KK0 Ghost of Hinata
by rincewind1990
Summary: When a tragedy occurs something unexpected happened. Co-written by myself and MotormMaster
1. Prologue

**Ghost of Hinata **

At the top of a large stone stair case stood Hinata Sou. The old inn has stood at the top of the hill for centenaries under the care of the Urashima family. The current inhabitants include Hinata Urashima, otherwise known as 'Granny Hina', her youngest daughter Haruka and her eldest daughter's family.

"Hurry up Kei-kun!" a young girl called out. She was wore a pink yukata and had a lollypop stick hanging loosely from her mouth.

"Give me a minute Haru-nee!" a voice called back.

"That's Aunty Haru!" she yelled. "Stupid Keitaro not showing the proper respect to his elders." she grumbled as two arms encircled her neck and pulled her backwards into a hug.

"You know you're only four years older than him, right?" a woman smiled down at her.

"Humph you should teach your son how to respect his elders, Nee-san." she pouted.

"But you're more of a big sister to him than an aunt." her sister laughed.

"Then I'll just have to hit him on the head until he gets it." she huffed.

The elder Urashima smiled and pulled the finished lollypop out of little sisters mouth. "You should cut down on these, and you shouldn't just walk around with one when your finished." she gently scolded as she put it in the bin. Haruka just pulled out a fresh lollypop and poked her tongue out at her sister.

"Now, now you two behave yourselves." Came the jovial voice of their mother. Turning they see Hina and her son-in-law smiling at them. Walking other to his wife Saiga wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her softly on the lips. "What are you two arguing about?" he asked.

"Your son being disrespectful to his elders." Haruka sniffed. Saiga smiled and ruffled her hair, much to Harukas displeasure. Hina just laughed.

"So where is my little grandson?" she asked.

"I'm Coming!" the voice called out again.

"Well I suppose that answers my question." Hina chuckled.

In the distance they hear the pounding of feet on the creaking floorboards when a thunderous crash and a piercing scream shot through the inn.

"Keitaro!" everyone ran towards the sound, Hina in pole position and the others following close behind. Arriving at the origin of the scream they see a large hole in the floorboards.

Only Hina was close enough to see the blood on the side of the hole.

"Saiga keep them back! I'll go check on him!" granny Hina screamed at her son in law. Jumping down the hole, Hina gracefully landed at the bottom "Keitaro! Where are you!?"

Looking around she waited for the dust to settle. When it did she gasped "No…" laying before her in a heap was the body of her grandson. Blood was slowly staining the ground around him. Walking over to him she checked for life. Finding none, with tears falling from her eyes she gently picked up his broken body and gently brought him to his family. Seeing the body of their son hanging loosely in her arms they rushed over to her and grabbed his lifeless body out of her arms and cradled him in their arms, wailing in sadness. Hina watched silently, tears silently falling down her face. Haruka just stared in disbelief too shocked to even cry.

Down in the hole the disturbed dust started to swirl and a faint light in the darkness gradually grew brighter.

* * *

A/N this fic was co-written by myself and MotormMaster it was his idea and i just fleshed it out so if you have any questions ask either of us.

A/N from MotormMaster: I am A new Author but i won't be uploading a story i only give ideas to good authors but if you want to get an Great Co-author ask me. This is my 2nd idea And the only one that may be finished oh And if You wouldn't mind Seending me a grennade or two -hundred Because of The army of lawers at my house (I own -----------) TnT I r Dεάd--------------- end authors note.


	2. Chapter 1

Ghost of Hinata

Chapter 1

**10 Years Later **

Down at the Hinata tea rooms Haruka Urashima carefully watched as her waitresses flitted between customers. Sighing she lights up a cigarette and inhales deeply.

"Hey Haruka-san, you got a minute?" a jovial voice calls out from the entrance. Sighing again she gestures to a booth. "If you wanted to talk Kitsune just say so, you don't need to yell across the room."

"Where's the fun in that?" the fox eyed girl chuckled. Haruka grunted as she sat down opposite Kitsune and another young girl. "Who's this?"

"This is Naru Narusegawa, she's a friend of mine from back when I was in high school. Naru-chan this is Haruka Urashima, she owns this place." Kitsune introduced them.

"Nice to meet you." Naru said coughed slightly from the smoke. Haruka nodded her head. "So what can I do for the two of you?" she asked looking at suitcases by the girl's feet.

"Well I heard that you're turning the old place up on the hill into a girl's dorm."

"Oh? And where did you hear that?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"A little bird told me." Kitsune smiled.

"How is my mother?" Haruka asked.

"Fine the last I saw her. She sends her love by the way."

"So what is it you two want?" she changed the subject.

"We want to stay at the dorm if there is any room." Naru said politely.

"I see, and will you be able to pay rent on time?" she questioned them.

"Come on Haruka-san you've known me for ages." Kitsune smiled.

"That's why I'm asking, I know what you're like." Looking at Naru she asks "What about you? You seem a bit young to have a part time job, how will you pay rent?"

"My mum and her husband will be paying." Naru replied.

Haruka raised an eyebrow at her wording. "Will they be alright paying for a place that they've never seen?"

"Yeah Granny Hina talked them into it." Naru told her.

"hmmmm well I'm expecting a few other girls so I'll take you up when they get here. Do you to want something to drink."

"Some sake if you don't mind Haruka-san." Kitsune grinned.

"Not until you pay off your tab." She pointed out before going back to the counter and sending one of her waitresses over to serve them. Returning to the counter Haruka poured out a cup of tea for herself.

"um, Haruka Urashima?" a small voice asked. Turning she sees a small blue haired girl standing shyly in front of her with a small suitcase at her feet. Smiling slightly at the girl she said.

"Shinobu Maehara?" the girl nodded. "Nice to meet you, I'm Haruka and I'll be the manager of the dorm. If there are any problems or you need help with something just tell me and I'll do my best to help you. Are your parents with you?" Shinobu looked down and shook her head sadly. "I understand." Haruka said sympathetically. "Well we are still waiting for two other residents and then I'll take you all up and show you around, OK?" getting another nod she continued "Come on I'll introduce you to your other house mates."

Haruka walked to the other side of the counter and led the shy girl over to her new roommates. "Kitsune, Naru-chan, this is Shinobu Maehara. She will also be living up at the dorm."

Shinobu bowed "I-it's nice to meet you." she said quietly.

Kitsune smiled widely at the small girl. "Nice to meet you too Shinobu-chan, have a seat."

"T-thank you." she replied shyly as she did as she was told.

"Well I'll leave her in your care. Do you want something to eat or drink?" the young girl shook her head. "OK, if you change your mind just ask one of the waitresses." As she turned a weight settled on her back.

"Hiya Haruka!" a cheery voice called out. Grimacing at the loud noise in her ear Haruka reaches back and pulls a tanned young girl from her back and placed her on the ground.

"Su-chan I've told you not to do that." The girl just smiled cheekily. "Your sister not with you?

"Nope just me this day." She grinned. Looking at the three confused girls her eyes go wide. "Hiya Shinobu! Are you going to be living in the dorm too?"

"She your friend?" Kitsune asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Um, well we go to the same school." Shinobu said uncomfortably as Su hugged her.

"Behave Su-chan." Haruka warned. "Well we just have to wait for the last girl to arrive and then I'll take you up there."

"Anyone we know?" Kitsune asked.

"An old friend's sister from Kyoto. She's having some family issues so she asked me to give her a place to stay." Haruka told them as she left to take care of a customer.

* * *

Sitting behind her counter with cigarette in mouth and newspaper open Haruka looks up as the bell above her door rings. Approaching her was a tall teenager wearing a Hakama and Gi, a pack on her back and sword at her hip. "Are you Motoko-chan?" the girl just nodded. "I'm Haruka Urashima, nice to meet you. How is your sister?"

"Aneue is well." Motoko said stiffly.

"Well now you're here I'll introduce you to the other tenants and then take you up." Motoko nodded her agreement. Taking her over to the other girls Haruka made the final introductions.

"Girls, this is Motoko Aoyama your other housemate. Motoko-chan, this Shinobu Maehara, Kaolla Su, Narusegawa Naru and Mitsune Konno."

Motoko bowed to them all. "It's nice to meet you." everyone responded in kind.

"Well now that you're all here I'll show you around the dorm." Haruka gestured for them to follow, picking up Shinobu's suitcase for her. Exiting the tea shop Haruka notes that Su had leap on Motoko's back. "Su-chan I've told you not to do that."

"It is alright Haruka-san. I do not mind." Motoko said uncomfortably.

"If you're sure." Haruka shrugged.

Arriving at the top of the stairs the girls stared in awe at the building. "This place is amazing. Why are you changing it into a girl's dorm?" Naru asked.

"It takes too much work to run an inn. I'm busy down at my tea shop and my mother wants to travel around the world. Since a dormitory is more or less self sufficient and the old inn has mainly been left empty for a while it just made sense." Haruka said as she ushered them into the dorm.

* * *

"Right, so you guys know where everything is right? The hot spring, bathrooms and kitchen?" Haruka asked them. Everyone nodded. "Well I'll leave it up to you lot to decide your rooms. The only one that you can't use is the manager's room. Also there is a building out back that is very old so don't go near it." again everyone nodded. "Well my mother is having the forms you need to sign sent to me so when they arrive I'll bring them up. If you need anything I'll be down at the tea shop." Haruka said as she left them to their own devices.

"Well, she was…professional." Naru said to the group at large.

"Haruka-sans been like that as long as I've known her. That's just how she is." Kitsune smiled.

"Have you known Haruka-san long Konno-san?" Motoko asked as she shifted Su's weight to a more comfortable position.

"For a good few years now. And please call me Kitsune." Motoko bowed slightly.

"Well I guess we had better decide our rooms." Naru said to everyone's agreement.

"OK! Come on Motoko lets go find the best rooms!" Su cheered an inch away from Motoko's ear and kicked her heels.

"S-Su-chan you shouldn't do that." Shinobu scolded meekly. Su just tilted her head quizzically.

"Shinobu wants to find rooms together?" Su asked.

"N-no that's not what I meant." She tried to correct the princess.

"OK let's go find our new rooms!" Su hopped of Motoko's back and ran off, dragging Shinobu off with her.

"Well we better hurry before those two get the best rooms." Kitsune grinned. Picking up their bags the girls went upstairs.

* * *

Naru stretches her arms above her head. She had selected a reasonably large room above the manager's room and had just finished unpacking her things. Getting things in some sort of order she surveyed her room, pleased at what she's managed to accomplish with the necessities she had packed. She would have to call her mother and organise her other things to be delivered at some point but right now she was content. She had found a place with her best friend that was close to her cram school which had its own hot springs. All in all she wasn't doing too badly.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw something moving. Turning around she sees a small boy looking at her possessions. "Erm what are you doing?" she asked. The boy just continued to look around her room. Naru frowned. Moving towards him she knelt behind the small boy, balled up her fist and biffed him on the head. "Hey don't ignore people when they're talking to you." She scolded him.

Rubbing his sore head with both hands her turns around and looks at her with bright eyes. "Are you talking to me?" he asked.

"Do you see anyone else in here?" she asked with a smile. The young boy looks around the room before saying no. "Then I guess I'm talking to you, aren't I?" She rubbed his head.

"Sorry." He smiled apologetically. "Most people don't speak to me."

"Who are you? And why are you here?" she asks.

"oh sorry." The boy bowed. "I'm Keitaro Urashima and I live here. It's nice to meet you."

"Urashima? Are you related to Haruka-san?" she asked curiously. The boys smile widened into a large grin.

"That's my Aunty!" He said happily.

"How come she never said anything about you living here?"

"She didn't?" he asked with a frown. "She must still be mad at me for calling her Nee-san. She always hits my head when I don't call her Aunty." He laughed as he rubed his head in memory. "She always says that I have to show my elders proper respect but she looks so funny when I tease her."

"I'm sure she does." Naru responded, though she couldn't imagine an angry Haruka as something funny.

"I have to go now but it was nice to meet you … um?"

"oh I'm sorry. I'm Naru Narusegawa. It's nice to meet you." she returned his bow.

Keitaro smiled. "It was nice to meet you Naru nee-san. Oh and you should be careful of this." He walked over to a board on the floor and pushed to the side. "It leads to the manager's room." he told her as he jumped down.

"Hey! That's dangerous!" Naru rushed forward to stop him but he was already down the hole. "Are you OK?" Poking her head through the hole she's surprised to see that he had disappeared. "Where did you go?" she frowned. Pulling her head back up she thought to herself _'That was weird. I wonder why Haruka never told us that her nephew was living here. Maybe I should go ask Kitsune if she knows anything about it.'_

* * *

Knocking on her best friends door Naru waits for the fox girl to answer her call.

"Hey Naru-chan, you done unpacking already?" Kitsune asked trying to sort through a pile of clothes.

"It might have something to do with the fact that I folded my clothes rather than just throwing them in a bag." Naru note dryly.

"You do things your way and I'll do things my way." Kitsune grinned. "You want a drink?

"Not one of yours no." Naru rejected the sake bottle. "Actually there's something I wanted to ask you about Haruka-san."

"What's that?" Kitsune asked as she hung one of her shirts.

"Does she have a nephew or something?"

Kitsune grinned widely at her friend. "You after some hunky guy who's going to get a huge inheritance?"

"No Kitsune I'm not." Naru replied blushing only slightly. "I just met this kid; he was about 8 years old, up in my room. He said that he lived here and that he was Haruka-sans nephew."

Kitsune frowned at her friend. "Well I know she has a sister but I've never heard anything about a nephew. Did he tell you his name?"

"Yeah, Keitaro Urashima."

"No never heard of him." She said thoughtfully. "We should go ask Haruka about it."

"I guess you're right."

"Alright give me a minute and I'll come down with you."

* * *

"Hey Yuki-san is Haruka-san around?" Kitsune asked the passing waitress.

"Sure give me a minute and I'll go get her." She replied as she wandered off. Settling down at the counter they waited for Haruka.

"What can I do for you guys? You got a complaint already?" Haruka asked as she approached them.

"Not exactly no. Naru-chan here has a question for you."

"Yeah, how come you never told us about the boy who lives there?"

"It's a girl's dorm. There are no boys that live there." Haruka countered.

"Well Naru-chan said that she met a boy in her room."

"There was an intruder?" Haruka frowned.

"I don't think so. He was only a kid, about 8 years old."

"Probably just a local kid exploring. There's nothing valuable kept up there anymore and I doubt he'll be back again now that you girls live up there. Chances are he just said that he lived there so he wouldn't get into trouble." She dismissed the topic and walked away.

"But he said that he was your nephew and that his name was Keitaro Urashima." Naru called out.

Haruka freezes and visibly stiffened. Slowly turning around the girls flinch at the Harukas hard eyes. "I do not have a nephew. If you see that boy again grab hold of him and call me OK? There's something I want to ask him." Haruka continued to walk into the back room.

"What was that about?" Naru asked her friend.

"No idea." Kitsune responded. "Why do you think she went all weird when you told her his name?"

"She's your friend, how should I know? Naru commented.

"Anyway come on you can help me finish unpacking."

* * *

"P-please enjoy." Shinobu said as she presented dinner to everyone.

"Shinobu where did all this come from" asked Naru as everyone stared at the food in awe.

"um… well there was food in the kitchen so I just made something." She replied shyly.

"Shinobu is a great chef!" Su cheered around a mouthful of food. Taking their cue from the young foreigner everyone dug in.

"This is amazing Shinobu-chan!" Kitsune exclaimed.

"Yeah this is really good! Where did you learn?" Naru asked.

"My parents taught me." She said quietly, blushing.

Nodding her head Naru continued to eat her meal. "By the way, did any of you guys see a young boy running around?"

"There was a boy in here?" Shinobu asked nervously.

"Yeah he was about 8 years old and in my room earlier but he disappeared down a hole in my floor."

"Did he come here to play with us?" Su asked, momentarily distracted by the prospect a playmate.

"No, he said he lived here and that he was Haruka-sans nephew." Naru told them.

"Have you told Haruka-san about it?" Motoko asked.

"Yeah she said that it was probably just a local kid exploring but she acted wired when I told her his name." Naru said with a frown. "Anyway she said that he probably won't be back now that we all live here, I was just wondering if anyone else had seen him." Everyone shook their head no and continued their meal with casual conversation.

* * *

Once all the food was gone and all the dishes washed up most of the girls decided to try out their new hotsprings.

"You sure you don't want to join us Shinobu-chan?" Naru asked.

"Y-yes. I think I'll have an early night and go to bed." She smiled weakly.

"If you're sure. You know where we'll be if you change your mind." Kitsune patted the blue haired girls head before leaving with the other girls.

Back in her room Shinobu sat on her bed and looked around the unfamiliar room. Pulling a blue stuffed rabbit to her chest she tries to hold back her tears. Nuzzling into the rabbit Shinobu remembered the festival that she and her parents had got it from. It was one of the few happy memories she had of her parents together before the fights started. Curling up into a ball Shinobu gave up trying to hold the tears back and wept.

"Are you alright?" a voice asked. Shinobu's eyes go wide as she sits up in surprise. Next to her sat a small boy looking at her with worried eyes.

"W-who are you?" she asked wiping the tears out of her eyes.

"I'm Keitaro. Who are you?" he responded.

"S-Shinobu Maehara. What are you doing in my room?"

"I heard you crying so I came to see what's wrong."

"I-its nothing." She tried to dismiss the topic.

"Are you sure? You look pretty sad." He pressed.

"I-it's just that this is the first time that I am living away from my parents." She smiled weakly at him.

"How come you're not living with your parents?" He asked with his head tilted to the side.

"My parents are getting a divorce and are leaving the area. So to stay in my school I have to live here by myself." She said sadly.

"I'm sorry." He patted her back. "I miss my parents too."

"You don't live with your parents either?" she asked.

Keitaro shook her head. "Nope, I live here now. Mum and dad don't visit much either." He said sadly.

"How long have you lived here?"

The young boy shrugged. "Don't know but it's been a long time. People don't speak to me or visit me very often so I'm usually by myself."

"You are?" she asked surprised.

Keitaro nodded. "But now that you're here we can be friends and keep each other company right?" he smiled happily.

"I'd like that." She patted his head affectionately. Keitaro responded by hugging her. Smiling up at her he said.

"It's getting late so I'll see you later." He leaned up and kissed her cheek. "Good night Shinobu nee-san." Keitaro stood up and left the room. The young girl held her hand to her cheek before realising that he had left. Rushing to the door Shinobu looked for the boy but he was no where to be seen.

"Are you OK Shinobu-chan?" a voice said behind her.

Letting out a surprised eep Shinobu turned to see Naru in a dressing gown looking at her curiously. "Oh, Naru-Sempai. Y-yes I am fine."

"I thought you were going to sleep, what are you doing out here?" Naru asked.

"I-I think I just met that young boy you were talking about. He was just in my room and we talked for a while."

"You did?" she asked surprised but when she saw Shinobu's red eyes Naru frowned. "Did he say something to upset you?"

"N-no! Nothing like that!" she said quickly. "I-I was upset because this is the first time I'm away from my family."

"I see." Naru said thoughtfully. "I didn't want to ask but would you mind telling me why you came to live here?"

"My parents are getting divorced and the only way to stay in my school was to live here." Shinobu said quietly.

"I understand." She stroked her hair. "Look if you ever feel upset or lonely you can talk to me OK? I know what it's like to see your parents go through a divorce."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I was younger than you when my mum and dad got divorced. Part of the reason I'm here is because I don't get on with my mum's new husband." Naru admitted.

"Thank you Naru-Sempai. I'll try not to be a bother to you." Shinobu bowed gratefully; happy that she has some she can talk to who went through the same as her.

Naru smiled and patted her on the head. "Don't worry about it Shinobu-chan. Now what did you and that boy talk about?"

"Nothing much, he just wanted to know why I was crying. When I told him he said that he misses his parents as well, because he lived here for a long time and that his parents don't visit him. He also said that he was alone a lot. He seemed a bit… lonely." Shinobu said.

"Did he tell you his name?" Naru pressed for more information.

"Yes he said his name was Keitaro." Shinobu informed the elder girl.

"Was he about 8 years old, scruffy brown hair and so high?" she held out her hand to which the girl nodded. "Then he is probably the same kid that I saw earlier. Did you see where he went?"

"No when he left my room he disappeared."

"Yeah he did the same to me… anyway it's getting late and we should get to bed. I'll see you in the morning." She smiled down at Shinobu.

"Good night Naru-Sempai." Shinobu bowed before retreating to her room.

* * *

Pulling her robe tightly around herself, Kitsune exited the hotsprings. It had been a long time since she had been to a hotspring and she resolved herself to enjoy it more often. Finding that she was slightly hungry she headed to the kitchen to see if there was any of Shinobu's leftovers still around or atleast something she can nibble on. Walking through the dining room she turned her nose up at the bowl of fruit on the table and continued into the kitchen. Finding no leftovers she scoured the cupboards in the search for a snack.

Finding a packet of Pocky she pulled one out and happily munched on the chocolate treat as she leant against the counter. Hearing a noise from the dining room she placed the packet on the counter and cautiously approached the door. Poking her head round the door she looks for the source of the noise. Discovering nothing in the room, a movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Running up the stairs was the figure of a young boy. _'That must be the kid the Naru saw.'_ Kitsune thought as she quickly finished off her Pocky stick _'What's he still doing hanging around here?'_ deciding to get to the bottom of the mystery she quickly followed him up the stairs.

Arriving at the first floor she quickly looked left and right and saw the manager's room door sliding to a close. Walking up to it she slid the door open quickly and called out. "What are you doing in – huh where are you?" she asked as she peered into the empty room. "I'm sure that you came in here." She frowned. The room was covered in dust, the only exception being the small footprints leading to the centre of the room and an apple at the end of the footprint trail.

Walking into the room Kitsune bends over and picks up the apple. _'The foot prints end here, so where did he disappear to?'_ she looked around the room. Seeing the hole in the ceiling she though _'He couldn't have gotten up there could he?'_ looking around the room she creates a makeshift ladder. Moving the board above her head Kitsune poked her head through hole. Looking around Kitsune sees Naru half dressed with her pyjama bottoms around her ankles.

"Er hi Naru-chan." She smiled weakly.

Naru went bright red. "What do you think you're doing?!" she yelled as she picked up her Liddo-kun doll and started to hit Kitsune on her head.

"OW! Damn it Naru-chan cut it out already before I fall and break my neck!" she yelled as her ladder fell away from her feet leaving only her arms keeping her from falling.

Putting the stuffed animal down Naru asked "What are you doing Kitsune?"

"Oh you know me, Naru-chan I'm just hanging out. How about giving me a hand?!" she glared at her friend. Once she pulled her friend up Naru restated her question.

"What were you doing?"

"I was chasing your boyfriend." She grumbled.

"What, you saw Keitaro-kun? Did you talk to him?" Naru asked.

"No I only saw him walking upstairs. I followed him up and I'm pretty sure he went into the manager's room. But that's where it get's weird. There were footprints leading to the middle of the room but there was only this apple. No footprints leading away. So I thought that he might have come up through here."

"Nope, only you. He was talking to Shinobu-chan earlier and apparently told her that he had been living here for a while and that his parents haven't visited him in a while. He also told her that he was alone a lot."

Kitsune was silent while she played with the apple. "You know, he might be a homeless kid."

"What makes you say that?" Naru asked.

"Well firstly he claimed that he has lived here for a while but Haruka said that this place was empty and I doubt she would forget about an 8 year old living here. There's how he keeps disappearing. If he's lived here long enough he probably knows all the hiding places around here so he can disappear before anyone catches him. He's only been seen by three of us and I only saw him sneaking food away before disappearing. That probably means he doesn't want to be found."

"I don't think so. He talked to Shinobu-chan when she was crying and he was just looking around my room as if I wasn't there."

"Shinobu-chan was crying?" Kitsune asked.

"It's fine, she was just upset about being away from her family."

"OK, so maybe he's a homeless kid whose kind."

"Still doesn't explain how he acted around me."

"It could be he got so used to being alone that he figured that you wouldn't pay any attention to him."

"That seems like a bit of a stretch."

"Do you mind waiting until I finish before pointing out everything that's wrong with my theory?" Kitsune frowned. "There's also how he claims to be Haruka's nephew. I mean none of us would even think about raising our voices to Haruka's nephew let alone throw him out just because it's a girl's dorm."

"He's only about 8. Do you really think a child could do that?"

"Kids who've lived a hard life can be really good at manipulating people. It's a survival trait, say or do anything to make sure that they are alright, regardless of what might happen to others. Anyway the fact that Haruka denies that she has a nephew makes the whole thing moot and a local kid wouldn't keep hanging around would he?"

"True, but your theory has a lot of holes in it. I mean his clothes weren't scruffy or dirty and he didn't seem to be malnourished or anything like that. Just a normal kid who was a bit strange."

"Well do you have any better ideas about our mystery boy? Kitsune huffed.

"No, it's just that your idea doesn't completely make sense. I never said that I had a better one."

"Well I doubt we'll get the answer tonight. I suggest that we get some sleep and talk to Haruka again tomorrow." Kitsune said as she stretched her arms above her head.

"Yeah I guess you're right. Good night Kitsune."

"Night Naru-chan, don't stay up to late studying or you'll get wrinkles." She laughed as she walked out the door.

"So will drinking sake all day!" Naru called after her friend.

* * *

"That was Haruka-san," Naru said as she sat back down at the table. "She said that the papers have arrived and she wants us to wait around in the living room for her."

"When is she getting here?" Kitsune asked as she finished the meal prepared by Shinobu.

"She said that she would be up soon, so we should have time to finish up breakfast."

"That's good." Su said around her second helping.

"You should slow down Su-chan. You are likely to choke." Motoko scolded Su as she ate slowly.

"But it tastes so yummy! Shinobu is the best!" she cheered at the blushing girl.

"As skilled as Shinobu-chan is, I do not believe choking is a satisfactory complement." Su just pouted in response but did slow down.

Finishing the meal everyone migrated into the living room to await Haruka. Switching on the TV they all waited patiently, with the exception of Su who was never one for sitting still. She sat fidgeting in her chair, until her unnatural levels of energy got the better of her. She started to bounce around the room, crawling on the backs of chairs and generally try to keep herself amused. Realising that the other girls had no intention of joining in her mischief Su pouts and surveys her surroundings. Looking down a corridor her eyes go wide and she grins widely as she runs down the hall.

"Hey Su-chan come back!" Naru called after her. "We're meant to wait here for Haruka-san!" Naru and Kitsune chased after her. Motoko and Shinobu looked at each other before the elder girl shrugged and followed. Shinobu looked down the hallway and out the front door with a worried expression before running after the others.

Catching up with the others she sees them all surrounding a happy Su who was sitting on the floor nuzzling the young boy on her lap.

* * *

A/N

Pocky -Is a Japanese snack which is basically a pretzel stick coated with chocolate. see wikipedia for more info

A/N from MotorMaster: Me + LAWERS = APOCOLYPES (:P=)


	3. Chapter 2

**Ghost of Hinata**

**

* * *

**

**Last Time On Ghost of Hinata**

_"Hey Su-chan come back!" Naru called after her. "We're meant to wait here for Haruka-san!" Naru and Kitsune chased after her. Motoko and Shinobu looked at each other before the elder girl shrugged and followed. Shinobu looked down the hallway and out the front door with a worried expression before running after the others._

_Catching up with the others she sees them all surrounding a happy Su who was sitting on the floor nuzzling the young boy on her lap. _

**

* * *

Chapter 2**

The Hinata girls stood around Su and the young boy she had captured. He was sitting on her lap, giggling as Su nuzzled happily into his cheek.

"Is this the boy you met, Naru-sempai?" Motoko asked.

"Yep that's him. Shinobu-chan is he the one that talked to you?" the young girl nodded. Turning to Kitsune she said. "Well? Does he look like a homeless kid to you?"

Kitsune huffed slightly and approached the giggling children. "Excuse me but are you Keitaro Urashima?"

The boy smiled up at her. "Uhuh, who are you?"

"I'm Mitsune Konno, but everyone calls me Kitsune." She replied looking closely at the young boys eyes.

He just looked back into her eyes and smiled. "It's nice to meet you Kitsune nee-san."

'_mmmm, he doesn't seem to be lying and he is cute.'_ She thought as she reached out and rubbed his head. "and are you Haruka Urashima's nephew?"

Keitaro smiled grew even wider "Yep that's my Aunty!"

"So why are you living here and not with your parents or Aunty or Granny?"

Keitaro shrugged. "I just do."

"So where are your parents now?" Kitsune asked.

He shrugged again. "Don't know. Probably working at our sweet shop."

"So you don't see your parents very often? And you live with your Granny and Aunty?"

Keitaro nodded. "Uhuh but I don't see Aunty very often anymore and I haven't seen Granny for a while now." He said, somewhat sadly.

Kitsune's mind was ticking over. What he was saying made sense and would explain why he was living here but it still didn't explain what Haruka said. "You know, Haruka-san is going to be coming up here soon."

Keitaro's eyes lit up "Aunty's gonna be here?!"

"Yep, do you want to hang out with us until she gets here." she asked kneeling next to him.

"Would that be alright?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course it would. We don't mind you keeping us company." She smiled down at him.

Keitaro leapt up and wrapped his arms around Kitsune's neck. "Thank You!" he cheered as he nuzzled into her neck.

Kitsune returned the strange boys hug "That's alright, Keitaro-kun, why don't you and Su-chan go and wait in the living room." she sent the two children off together.

"Why were you asking him so many questions, Kitsune-sempai?" Shinobu asked.

"I wanted to know if he was telling the truth." Kitsune said thoughtfully.

"And?" Naru asked.

"As far as I can tell he was telling the truth, but…" Kitsune trailed off.

"But what?" Motoko asked.

"Well yesterday when we asked Haruka-san about him she said that she didn't have a nephew. So that means one of them is lying. I thought that if we told him that Haruka-san was coming up here he might try and get out of seeing her because she would prove that he was lying but he seemed happy to see her." Kitsune mused.

"So what does this mean?" Shinobu asked.

"It means either Haruka has a reason for lying or Keitaro-kun is a very sick little boy." Kitsune concluded.

"What are you talking about?" Naru asked confused.

"Well he obviously believes that Haruka-san is his aunt but if she isn't then he's created a whole little world for himself. The only reason I can think of for him doing that is if something traumatic happened and he recreated a world in which he wouldn't have to deal with it."

"You don't think his parents could be…" Naru started.

"I have no idea, but it would explain why he lives here and hasn't seen then for a while. Whatever happened, it would have to have really screwed him up if he is willing to go as far as meet Haruka-san."

"Well I guess we'll find out when Haruka-san gets here." Naru said as she led them back to the living room where they found once again Su snuggling with the boy who was equally returning her affection.

"Keitaro-kun would you like something to eat?" Shinobu asked.

The young boy thought for a moment before saying "May I have an apple please?" he asked politely.

"Are you sure? I can make you something if you're hungry." She replied.

"No thank you, I'm not that hungry but Granny always told me that I should eat at least one fruit a day and I like apples the best." He explained as Shinobu went to get him an apple.

"Fu Fu Fu, silly Kei-kun." Su chortled as she pulled out her own favourite fruit. "Everyone knows bananas are the best."

Taking the apple from Shinobu, Keitaro frowned. "Apples are a lot better than bananas."

"Silly little boy." She petted his head condescendingly. "You are too young to know the true charms of bananas. You just trust your elders."

"No I'm not and apples are a lot better! Apples can be sweet or sour, and in loads of colours. Bananas are just yellow and mushy."

Su's eye twitched. "Fu Fu Fu bananas don't need to be many different colour or flavours to be better. Not only that but you make so many different treats from them like chocolate covered bananas, banana cake and banana pie. They are clearly the superior fruit."

Keitaro puffed out his cheeks "You can do more with apples! You can make apple pie, apple crumble, toffee apples, apple juice and lots of other stuff! That's why they're better than bananas." Su and Keitaro narrowed their eyes and glared at each other, a small spark shot between their eyes before they tried to force feed the other their respective fruits.

Deciding to break up the fight before one or both of them choked, Motoko picked up Keitaro and brought him onto her lap. Keitaro looked up and tilted his head quizzically "hsdfs mtju bhej?"

"Swallow before you speak." She told him.

Doing as he was told, Keitaro swallowed the banana before saying "Have we met before?"

"I do not believe we have." She replied.

"Really? Mmmm you remind me of someone." He closely examined Motoko's face. "She was really pretty just like you." he smiled.

Motoko blushed and coughed out of embarrassment. "Thank you Keitaro-kun." She petted his head when she noticed something strange. Frowning she continued rub his head, trying to put her finger on what was so bizarre. Keitaro just sat on her lap, happily soaking up the attention.

"Is something wrong Motoko-chan?" Naru asked.

"There is … no it's nothing." Motoko replied still frowning. Keitaro was oblivious to the conversation as he enjoyed the affection. The front door opened and the manageress of Hinata Sou entered the building. "Good, you're all here. I got the papers you guys need to sign."

"Hey Haruka-san. We managed grab that boy we were talking about." Naru said as Keitaro leaped off of Motoko's lap and wandered up to Haruka.

"Hiya Nee-san!" he grinned cheekily.

"Oh? Where is he?" Haruka asked as she walked past the young boy.

"I'm here!" he cheered as he stood in front of her and waved.

"er he's right in front of you." Kitsune said with some confusion.

Haruka just glared at them. "If this is a joke it's not funny. "

"I'm right here." he gave her a slightly hurt look.

"If you guys don't mind I have a business to run so you can fill these out and give them back to me later." She said tersely as she threw the papers down onto the coffee table and turned to walk away.

"Wait a minute Aunty, please stay for a while. I promise I won't call you Nee-san anymore." He begged, following close behind her.

"Haruka-san your nephew is right there!" Kitsune cried.

Stopping Haruka turned and glared at the girls "I've had enough of this. I've already told you and if you keep this up I'll throw the whole lot of you out. For the last time I do not have a nephew!" she snapped.

"Aunty..." Keitaro whispered as his lower lip started to tremble. Haruka turned to leave and Keitaro grabbed hold of the back of her shirt but Haruka carried on walking unhindered while he was dragged behind her. "Please Aunty don't go. Please I-I'll be good!" tears were now streaming down his face. "Aunty please, I-I'll come when you tell me to! Please say something!" he cried while the girls watched sadly. Keitaro let go of her shirt as she walked out the door. "A-Aunty hates me!" he bawled as he ran off.

"Keitaro come back!" Su called out as she, Kitsune and Shinobu rushed after him.

"Poor Kei-kun..." Naru murmured.

"What do you suppose that was about?" Motoko asked.

"Well I've heard that in some old families like the Urashimas that if a family member disgraces themselves then the others won't even acknowledge their existence or that of their children." Naru suggested. "Perhaps that has something to do with it?"

"I doubt it." Motoko said while frowning in thought. "With him being so young there's not much he could have done to warrant that kind of treatment and if it was his parents then I don't see why they would allow him to live here. They would either forgive him of his parents crimes or abandon him." Motoko replied.

"So what do you think the reason is then?" Naru asked.

"I do not know, but … my sister is an old friend of Haruka-sans. She may know something about this."

As they pondered the situation the youngest residents returned Keitaro-less. "You couldn't find him?" Naru asked.

"He went around a corner and disappeared." Shinobu sighed as she sat down. "Kitsune-sempai said that she was going to keep looking for him."

"I guess you will have to ask your sister." Naru said to Motoko. She nodded her head as she went to the phone and Naru sat down to explain what they discussed with Su and Shinobu. After several rings there was an answer.

¬Hello?¬ the voice said.

"Sister, it is me Motoko." She replied somewhat stiffly.

¬Motoko-han! It's good to hear from you! How are you? Have you settled into Hinata Sou?¬

"I am fine sister, though there is something I need to ask you."

¬Of course what do you need?¬

"Well there is a young boy here at Hinata Sou who claims to be Haruka-sans nephew but when we the two met, Haruka-san acted as if she could not even see him."

The phone was silent for a moment. ¬Are you sure that he claims to be her nephew?¬

"Of course I am." Motoko replied.

¬Did he tell you his name?¬ came an urgent voice

"Keitaro Urashima, does it matter?" Motoko asked confused.

Silence again ¬What does this boy look like?¬

"Well he is about 8 years old, a very innocent face and is about as tall as my hips." Frowning that her sister ignored her question

¬Impossible¬ Tsuruko mumbled down the telephone. ¬Tell me, have you noticed anything strange about him?¬

Motoko thought for a moment. "Well, apart from Haruka seemingly not being able to see him he does have the ability to disappear as soon as you break line of sight."

¬Nothing else?¬ Tsuruko pressed her for answers.

"No, not that I can thi- well there was something." Motoko replied hesitantly.

¬Yes? What is it?¬

"I- I am not sure quite how to describe it. When I petted his head there was something strange about how he felt. I cannot explain exactly what was strange but it seemed... fuzzy? No not fuzzy...familiar perhaps? I cannot accurately articulate the sensation." She finished.

¬I see… I will be there tomorrow.¬ Tsuruko declared.

"W-what? Why?" Motoko stuttered.

¬Because what you are telling me cannot possibly be true and I need to see it with my own eyes.¬

"What do you think it is?"

¬I do not wish to make guesses without more information so I will be there as soon as possible.¬

"If you believe that is the best course of action then I will see you tomorrow." Motoko said as her sister hung up the phone. Frowning Motoko returned to the others in the living room.

"So what did she say?" Naru asked.

"She said that she would arrive here tomorrow to see Keitaro-kun for herself."

"Why is she coming here?"

"I am not entirely sure why. Her responses were stranger than she normally is."

"Does she know anything about Keitaro-kun's situation?"

"She did not say, but there was something that she was not telling me." Motoko informed them.

"I guess we won't find out anything until she gets here." Naru sighed. "I wonder were Kitsune's gotten to?"

* * *

"Where did that little guy get to?" Kitsune wondered aloud as she turned another corner. She was still searching for the crying boy ten minutes after she had sent Su and Shinobu back to the others and had yet to find a trace of the little boy. Letting out a exasperate sigh at the empty hallway, she leant against a wall and rubbed her temple. _'What was up with Haruka? She acted as though she couldn't even see him. I hope the little thing is alright."_

As she thought about the strange situation they had found themselves in she heard a soft sobbing. She looked around to try and find the source of the sound. Walking along the corridor she stopped where the sound was coming from. All she found was a empty hallway with no rooms but the sound persisted. Pressing her ear against the wall she heard the crying on the other side. Examining the wall closely she slides a panel off the wall to reveal a tunnel and a small crying boy.

'_I guess this is how he keeps disappearing'_ Kitsune thought idly as she knelt next to the small weeping form. Grabbing hold of the boy, she pulled him into her chest. "There, there Kei-kun. It's alright." She rubbed his back, trying to sooth the distraught child.

"K-Ki-Kit-Kitsune nee-san, A-Au-Aunty hates me!" he choked out through the tears as he buried his head into her collar bone.

"Shhh, Shhh, it's OK." She said quietly. "I'm sure she doesn't hate you."

"Yes she does!" he cried "That's why she ignored me!"

"That's not true at all." She tried to convince him otherwise.

"Then why did she say she doesn't have a nephew?!" He countered, looking up at her with a tear stained face. Kitsune let out a sigh.

"I'm not sure, Kei-kun. But you need to calm down OK? No more tears?" she gently rubbed his head. Sniffing and wiping his nose on his sleeve he nodded. "Good." Pulling a tissue out her pocket she wiped his eyes. "Now the others are probably really worried about you, what do you say we go and show them you're alright?" Keitaro nodded again. "OK then." She kissed his forehead as she stood up and left the tunnel.

Bringing him back to the living room she called out "Look who I found." As she sat down between Naru and Motoko. Pulling the young boy off her friend and onto her lap, Naru stroked his hair.

"How you doing Kei-kun." She asked softly.

"OK" he mumbled quietly.

Su walked up behind him and pulled him of Naru's lap and into a hug, rubbing her cheek against his. "Don't be sad Kei-kun, Su will love you." Keitaro gave her a smile.

"Do you know why Haruka-san acted the way she did?" Motoko asked.

" 'cause she hates me." He sniffed.

"Hey, I'm sure doesn't hate you." Naru reassured him as she ruffled his hair. "Why don't we go down to the tea shop and find out what it was all about?"

Shuffling his feet and looking at the ground he mumbled "Don't wanna."

"But Kei-kun we should go see what she was talking about."

"DON'T WANNA!" he yelled with tears falling down his face again. "I don't want to get Aunty mad again." He finished quietly. Everyone looked down sadly at the small boy. Picking him up again Naru held him close.

"OK Kei-kun. You can just hang out with us." She ran her fingers through his hair as he nodded into her chest.

**

* * *

Later That Night**

Keitaro had spent the remainder of the day with the Hinata girls. Alternating between girls Keitaro had soon regained his cheery disposition to the point where it seemed that he had completely forgotten about the confrontation with his aunt and none of the girls were eager to remind him about it. Su had apparently forgiven him for offending her favourite fruit and took great pleasure in playing with him, exploring her surprisingly quickly converted jungle room and rubbing her cheek against his. At the end of the day the girls discussed what they were going to do with Keitaro at night. Agreeing that they didn't want to risk him disappearing again Naru volunteered to take him for the night. When they informed him of this he grinned and hugged her.

Carrying him to her room Naru set him down and rubbed his head affectionately before turning around and getting changed into her pyjamas when she wondered about what her young friend would wear. "Hey Kei-kun, do you have anything to wear?" she turned around to see a pyjama clad Keitaro. "Hey, how did you get changed so quickly?" she asked as she knelt next to him.

The young boy smiled and said "I just did."

"Then where're your clothes?" she questioned him. Keitaro turned around and examined the room before facing Naru and shrugging. "You're a strange little guy, aren't you?" she rubbed his head. Keitaro grinned happily as he accepted her attention. "Let's get to bed, OK?" nodding his head he let her lead him to the futon. Sliding under the covers, Keitaro crawled on top of Naru and hugged her. "Love you Nee-san." He smiled up at her as he nuzzled into her chest.

Naru was caught off guard by this expression of fondness. How starved of affection must he be that he declares his love for someone he only met the day before. Rolling over so that he rested his head on her pillow she asked "Hey Kei-kun, you've been here by yourself for a long time, haven't you?"

"Uhuh."

"Don't you ever get lonely up here without anyone else around?"

"Yea" he replied with a sad note in his voice "But now with you and the other nee-sans here I won't be lonely anymore 'cause you'll keep me company." He finished with a large grin.

Pulling him close to her Naru gently stroked his back. "Yea, we will." Naru reassured him. "Night Kei-kun."

"Good night Nee-san." he snuggled closer to her before falling off to sleep.

**

* * *

The Next Day**

Tsuruko Aoyama made her way up the stone staircase, hurrying two steps at a time, eager to find the truth behind this impossible situation. Arriving at the top of the stairs she was greeted by her sister "Where is he?" she asked getting straight to the point.

"It is good to see you too, sister." Motoko remarked dryly.

"Forgive me Motoko-han, but I do not wish to waste time on pleasantries. Where is he?" she restated her question.

"He is upstairs playing with Su-chan, one of the younger residents. Please have a seat and I will fetch him." She directed her sister to the living room while she made her way up to Sus room.

Entering the jungle room Motoko wondered how she would find the children when she heard a burst of laughter. Following the sound she found Keitaro and Su in a clearing, they young girl was mercilessly tickling the boy, not letting up despite his begging.

"Kei-kun, there is someone downstairs that wishes to meet you." Motoko said as she approached them.

"Who?" he asked as Su stopped her tickling.

"My sister wishes to see you." She said as she rubbed his head.

"Su will come too!" Su cheered as she as stood herself up brining Keitaro with her.

"It would be better if it was just him, Su-chan." Motoko replied.

"AWWWWWW but Su wants to stay with Kei-kun!" she cried as she hugged him tightly and rubbed her cheek against his.

Giggling Keitaro told her "We can play after OK Nee-san?"

Su just pouted "But you're just right for snuggling with!" she punctuated her statement by nuzzling into his neck.

Motoko sighed. "Very well Su-chan, you may come with us."

"Yay!" both children cheered. Keitaro walked hand in hand with Su and Motoko out of the room and down the stairs. Entering the living room they spied an elder version of Motoko. As he came into view Tsuruko's eyes went wide. "Kei-kun is that you?" He nodded hesitantly . "Do you know who I am" she asked.

Climbing up onto the chair next to Tsuruko, he looked closely at her face "Tsu nee-san?"

Tears formed in her eyes. "Kei-kun!" she pulled him to her chest as the tears fell "It's so good to see you again!" she buried he nose into his hair before freezing. Removing her nose she stared at the young boy who was happily nuzzling into her chest. She then looked up at Su and her sister staring at them. Turning back to Keitaro she pulled him away from her chest and looked deeply into his eyes. Extending her hand she gently cupped his cheek. Running her hand over his face she looked at him in amazement. "It really is you isn't it?" she whispered.

"Of course, Tsu nee-san." Keitaro replied with a smile.

"Do you know how long it has been since we've seen each other?" she asked softly. Keitaro shook his head. "It has been close to twelve years now."

"Twelve years...?" Tsuruko heard her sister mumble with a frown.

Keitaro frowned "It couldn't have been."

"Yes it has." She corrected him with a small smile. "It has been ten years since you- I was only eleven the last time we met and I am now 23."

"Really?" he asked in amazement.

"Really. I have even gotten married." She told him.

Keitaro squinted at her "I don't believe you." He said resolutely.

Tsuruko raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Why not?"

"You look too young and pretty to have been married." He said as he folded his arms and pouted.

"You always were a flatterer." She smile and kissed his forehead giving him another strange look.

"Why are you here Nee-san?" Keitaro asked .

"Well when Motoko-chan told me you were living here I had to come visit you." She ruffled his hair. "Why? Aren't you glad to see me?"

"Of course I am!" he protested as he hugged her tightly. "I'm always happy to see you!"

"That's good to know Kei-kun." She murmured while stroking his hair. "Why don't you go and play with Su-chan."

"Don't you want to spend time with me?" he asked.

"Of course I do." She reassured him. "But there is something I need to discuss with Motoko-chan."

"OK." He leaned up and gave her a peck on the lips before running off with Su. Tsuruko watched as they left and once they were out of sight she turned back to her sister.

"You have touched him haven't you?" she asked sharply.

"Once or twice." Motoko responded.

"And you haven't noticed?"

"Noticed what?" she asked, once again wishing her sister wasn't so vague. "And what did you mean when you said you hadn't seen him for twelve years? He can't possibly be more than eight years old. Ten at the most."

"That he is pure Ki."

"So? He's a child. You would not expect his Ki to be corrupted." Motoko frowned as her sister ignored her question.

"No. I didn't say his Ki is pure I said he is pure Ki. As in he is nothing but Ki. He has no physical body."

Motoko blinked. "That's impossible. You just touched him yourself."

"I know but I felt no physical body just his Ki. It appears to condense into a physical object. That is only possible explanation."

"Why?" Motoko asked, confused.

"Because Keitaro Urashima died ten years ago."

"What?" Motoko asked shocked. "Are you sure?"

"I went to his funeral Motoko. I believe at some point someone would have noticed he was alive." She said dryly.

"What happened?"

Sighing, Tsuruko said. "He fell through old floorboards ten years ago when this place was still an inn. I was told that he broke his neck on the way down and did not endure any pain. But Haruka-san was there when his body was brought up." She finished quietly .

"So are you saying that he is a ghost?"

"No it is more than that. It is not so much his spirit but his Ki that remains." Tsuruko said thoughtfully.

"But how is that even possible?"

"I do not know, I have never heard of something like this happening. The only possible reason could be his healing ability." She mumbled to herself.

"Healing ability?" Motoko repeated.

"In life Keitaro-kun had an abnormal amount of Ki. As a side effect of that his body healed itself almost instantaneously. I once saw him trip over and cut his knee and the skin knitted together before my very eyes. It was a completely unconscious act and the only thing I can think of which led him to be like this is that his Ki was trying to save him but his body was too far gone and left an imprint of sorts behind. It is probably trying to rebuild itself but has not material to do so."

"Just how strong was his Ki?"

"Given time and proper instruction he could have easily surpassed both of us."

"And you think that this amount of Ki has given him a sort of immortality?"

"Technically no. He is not alive so he is not immortal. Its seems that his life force left his body when it was unable to repair itself. And since it had no vessel to contain it, it fashioned one out of his own energy."

"But how? It's just energy. Like our sword techniques, they don't have a will of their own."

"No but they do bend to our will and do what we want them to do, even after they have left our swords. His will to live must have pushed his Ki to do whatever it took to preserve him even if it meant abandoning his body."

"But how could it retain his personality?"

"Who knows? As I have said I have never heard of this happening. Perhaps it retained his mind or even just his memories."

"So it might not even really be him, just his memories." Motoko asked quietly.

Tsuruko gave her sister a small smile. "The memories are what makes him, him. Can you say you would be the same person with different memories? We are all moulded by our experiences."

"So do you think there is a way to save him? To put him back into a physical body?"

Tsuruko sighed "I cannot see how. He would need a vessel to inhabit. A dead person would be of no use as he would not be able to heal it. If we tried to place it in a living host we would be sacrificing that person as his Ki would undoubtedly overwhelm and destroy theirs. And there is no way of knowing if the a body can accept the Ki of another. To my knowledge a Ki transplant has never even been suggested let alone attempted."

"So what do you suggest?" Motoko asked.

"I will ask Haruka-san and then consult with others back at the school. I suggest you tell the other tenants but do not let them tell Keitaro-kun. He appears to not know what happened to him and it would be best not to tell him for now."

Motoko stared at her sister "Do you think he's dangerous."

"I have no idea. If he feels scared or threatened who knows what he could happen. His Ki could be completely devoted to preserving him or it could react to how he feels and defend him. And if that is the case then it could be extremely destructive. Ki is only limited by its host. Using Ki puts a great strain on the body and so is restricted to the limit of the person but Ki that is not being restrained buy a human body it has almost limitless potential. Imagine our strongest technique which can move of its own free will. He could obliterate anything he touches and not even know how to control it." She said thoughtfully.

Motoko looked shaken. "Are you sure?"

Tsuruko sighed "At this point I am not sure of anything. I have no experience in these matters so I am merely speculating. Hopefully I shall have some answers the next time I come."

"And when will that be?"

"When I have something to tell you. Forgive me Motoko-han, but I cannot be more specific."

"I understand, when will you leave?"

"Now, the sooner I return home the closer we come to unravelling this mystery." With that she stood up and called for Keitaro.

"Yes Nee-san?" he appeared on Tsuruko's back.

"How did you get there?"

"I walked." He said simply with a smile.

Accepting his answer without question, Tsuruko pulled him around her front and kissed his forehead. "I have to leave now Kei-kun."

Keitaro's smile fell. "But you just got here!" he protested.

Rubbing her nose against his she smiled. "I know Kei-kun but I promise to come back and see you really soon, OK?"

"You promise?" he asked still frowning.

"I promise." She agreed.

"You promised last time too but you didn't come back for a long time." He pointed out with a pout.

"I know and I'm sorry but this time I'll be back as soon as possible." She gave him a small kiss on the lips.

"OK." He said still sad. Wrapping his arms around her neck he kissed her cheek. "Love you Nee-san."

"Love you too Kei-kun." She whispered to him. Setting him down she petted his head and bid the two of them goodbye.

Waving their farewells to the elder Aoyama, Keitaro smiled up at Motoko. Returning his smile she knelt down and rubbed his head, once again feeling the strange sensation as her fingers ran through his hair. Now that she had been told his nature she realised that the sensation was similar to that when she used Ki. Before she could question him further Su appeared.

"Keitaro!!! Where did you run off too?!" she scolded him as she wrapped her arms around his body.

"I was saying goodbye to Tsu nee-san." He explained as he returned her hug.

Su just pouted. "But you just disappeared without saying anything."

"I'm sorry Nee-san" he nuzzled into her chest.

"That's OK, just don't do it again." she stroked his hair. "Now come on I want to show you my latest invention!" she cheered as she pulled him back to her room.

**

* * *

Down at Tea Shop.**

Entering the tea shop Tsuruko spied her old friend "Hello Haruka-san it has been a long time."

"Oh hey Tsuruko-san, you here to see your sister?"

"I have just been up to seen her and I thought I might as well come say hello to you while I am here." She smiled as she approached the slightly younger woman.

"I see, you want a cup of tea?" Haruka asked. "Actually may I speak with you privately."

"If you want" Haruka responded before gesturing for Tsuruko to follow. "So what did you want to talk to me about."

"It's about your nephew, Keitaro-kun."

Haruka's features tensed up."What about him." she asked carefully.

"I just had a conversation with him." She said simply.

"Don't you start this as well! I've had to put up with this crap ever since those girls moved in up there and I'm sick of hearing it." Haruka yelled

"Haruka, please I know how it sounds but if you give me a moment-"

"Shut up! I don't know if this is some sick and twisted joke you and those girls have come up with but I've had enough. 10 years ago I saw my mother carry his dead body out of it I saw the way his neck had snapped and his empty eyes! He is dead! And nothing is going to change that!"

"Haruka-san calm down."

"No Tsuruko you have no idea what I went through! He was like my little brother and you have no idea what it feels like to go through that! " she glared at the woman "Do you know how long it took before I stopped seeing him where ever I went up there!"

"You saw him?"

"Of course not! It was all in my head! I couldn't stop imagining him everywhere. I woke up and he was asleep next to me, where ever I went he was following me, talking to me. Do you know how many pills I had to take, how many hours of therapy I had to go through to stop seeing him?"

"No Haruka-san, you didn't imagine him! He really is-" Tsuruko never finished her sentence. Haruka's punch knocked her clear across the room and slammed her against a wall. Bringing her hand to her lip she saw the blood dripping from it.

"Get out and don't ever talk to me again!" Haruka snarled. "And tell your sister and her friends that they are on their final warning. If they keep this up I'll evict the whole damn lot of them! Now Get Out!" Tsuruko stood up without another word and left.

Watching her leave Haruka retreated back to her room. Picking up the phone she punched in the number she knew by heart and waited.

¬Hello?¬ an elderly voice came through the line.

"Mum it's me." She said tersely.

¬Oh, hello Haruka-chan, how are you doing?¬

"I don't want to run Hinata Sou anymore." Haruka replied, ignoring her mother's question.

Hina paused ¬Why not?¬

"You know why not." Haruka growled.

¬I thought you had gotten over this.¬ Hina sighed.

"How the hell is anyone meant to get over what I saw. Isn't that the reason why you're gallivanting around the would instead of looking after _your_ tenants." Haruka countered.

Hina was silent again, unable to argue with her daughters statement. ¬If not you then who should run Hinata Sou?¬

"I don't care just as long as it's not me!" she yelled as she slammed down the phone. Picking up a photo on her bedside table she looked at the image in her hands. It showed two smiling children, a girl slightly taller than the boy with her arms wrapped around his shoulders and her chin rested on his head. Sitting on the bed her tears fell as she looked at it. Curling into a ball Haruka held the picture close to her chest as she wept.

"I-I'm so sorry Kei-kun."

* * *

A/N from Rincewind: not much to say except I hope you liked it. Please review and tell us what you think. For those of you wondering about my other fics, well I plan on writing the next chapter of _Sempai _before the others but I'm sure you know what they say best laid plans. As for Ancestor it's been placed on the back burner for now but will try to update as soon as possible. Also please see my profile and vote on the title of the spin off of Kid-Keitaro.

Well until next time.


	4. Chapter 3

**Ghost of Hinata**

**

* * *

**

**Last Time On Ghost of Hinata**

_Hina was silent again, unable to argue with her daughters statement. ¬If not you then who should run Hinata Sou?¬_

_"I don't care just as long as it's not me!" she yelled as she slammed down the phone. Picking up a photo on her bedside table she looked at the image in her hands. It showed two smiling children, a girl slightly taller than the boy with her arms wrapped around his shoulders and her chin rested on his head. Sitting on the bed her tears fell as she looked at it. Curling into a ball Haruka held the picture close to her chest as she wept._

_"I-I'm so sorry Kei-kun."_

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 3**

**On the train to Kyoto**

Still nursing her swollen lip, Tsuruko sighed deeply at the predicament she found herself in. Pulling out her mobile phone and entered the number of her sister's new home. It was a few moments before someone answered.

¬H-hello, Hinata Sou.¬ came the hesitant voice at the other end.

"May I speak to Motoko Aoyama please?" she requested.

¬O-Of course, who can I tell her is calling?¬

"Her sister." She replied, mentally exhausted.

¬O-One moment please.¬ the phone on the other end of went silent for a few minutes before a different voice said ¬Sister?¬

"Hello Motoko-han." She replied quietly.

¬Did you speak to Haruka-san?¬

"Yes, unfortunately she was not able to supply any useful information."

¬Have you determined why she is unable to see him?¬ Motoko asked.

The elder Aoyama sighed. "I believe that it's not that she can't see him but more that her mind won't let her. She used to see him when she was younger but since then she had received medication and therapy to stop it."

Motoko was silent for a moment before asking ¬What do you suggest that we do?¬

"I... would avoid talking to her about it." She brought her finger up to gingerly touch her cut lip. "She did not take it well when I brought it up and informed me that if you or any of your fellow residents mention it to her again she will evict all of you."

¬I... I see.¬ was all Motoko could find to say about the subject. ¬Do you have any advice about Keitaro-kun?¬

"I'm afraid not Motoko-han. Other than what I have already told you I won't be able to help you until I discuss this matter with others back at the school."

¬I see.¬ Motoko sighed ¬Well if you think of anything please get in contact with us.¬

"Of course Motoko-han, goodbye." She finished as she hung up looking out at the scenery rushing past she sighed to herself, wondering what she was going to do.

* * *

**Later that Day in the HotSprings**

"So you're saying that he's a ghost?" Kitsune asked, not believing a word she was hearing.

Motoko sighed. "Not exactly no, but for the sake of simplicity it is easiest to think of him as such."

"And we're just meant to take you sister's word on that?"

"Perhaps you have a better explanation Konno-san?" Motoko said defensively.

"Cut it out you two." Naru mumbled as she sank deeper into the water.

"W-what happened to him?" Shinobu asked, not really liking all this talk of ghosts.

"My sister said that he fell through some old floorboards." She said simply, not wanting to tell the fragile girl too much detail.

"I-is he dangerous?" Shinobu quailed.

"My sister was unsure. Her only recommendation was that we not tell Keitaro-kun himself."

"Do you think we should try and talk to Haruka-san again?" Naru asked.

"My sister already tried. I doubt we would succeed where she failed." Motoko replied. "And if we do try Haruka-san has threatened to evict us."

"What about Su-chan, shouldn't we tell her?" Shinobu asked.

"I'm not too sure. She seems infatuated with him and I do not believe she would understand the situation." Motoko said.

"GERONIMO!" A voice called out before two shapes landed in the pool showering all the girls in water. Once the rain of warm water stopped and the steam cleared the girls saw the ginning faces of Su and Keitaro in the middle of the springs. "Hiya!" the pair cheered together.

Drifting over to them Kitsune grabbed Keitaro and hugged him. "Hey Kei-kun, where did you come from?"

"Up there!" he pointed up to the balcony overlooking the springs. "Su nee-san wanted to dive in from up there."

Patting his head she turned him around and pointed him at Motoko. "Well what do you think?" she pulled his cheeks and stretched his face.

"I was merely relaying what my sister thought. I do not know if she was right or not." Motoko huffed.

"Tsu nee-san said something about me?" he asked as he swam over to Motoko. "What did she say?"

"She said you were very cute." Motoko said quickly.

"And you don't agree with her?" he asked with sad eyes as he rested his chin on her chest.

"Of course I do, Kei-kun." She rubbed his head.

Grinning he leaned up and kissed Motoko on the lips "Good 'cause I think you're really pretty!" he cheered.

Motoko blushed as two arms encircled his waist and pulled him off her lap. "And what about the rest of us?" Naru asked as she gave him a squeeze.

Turning around he hugged Naru tightly. "I think you're all really pretty!" he grinned.

Naru returned his smile. "You're nothing but a little flirt aren't you?" she tickled him as he giggled. "You wanna sleep with me again?"

Keitaro shook his head. "Su nee-san is gonna let me sleep in her hammock with her tonight." He said happily.

"Aren't you lucky?" she rubbed his head. Keitaro just grinned and happily accepted the attention.

"Yep I get to snuggle with Kei-kun allllll night long." Su grinned and pulled Keitaro away from Naru, happily rubbing her cheek against his. As they drifted next to Shinobu, Keitaro slipped out of Su's embrace and sat on Shinobu's lap. "Are you feeling better now Nee-san?"

Shinobu gave him a small smile. "I'm fine now Kei-kun. Thank you." She hesitantly rubbed his head.

Keitaro looked closely at Shinobu's face. "Are you sure?" his voice full of concern.

Giving him a larger smile she gave his forehead a quick kiss. "Yes I am."

Still frowning he said. "Why don't you sleep with me and Su nee-san tonight?"

"Um, well..."

Turning to Su, Keitaro asked "It's alright if Shin nee-san sleeps with us isn't it?"

Swimming over to them Su rested her chin on his head "MMMM I did want you all to myself tonight but I don't mind sharing." She grinned.

"Yay! We can all sleep together!" he cheered and hugged Shinobu.

"Yay!" Su agreed and joined him in hugging Shinobu. The young girl looked bemused as she was embraced by the two people. Looking to the others for advice they simply shrugged. Sighing she smiled and stroked Keitaro's hair. "OK I'll sleep with you."

"YAY!" Keitaro and Su cheered again and nuzzled into her. Shinobu and everyone else just looked at them in bemusement.

* * *

**Su's Jungle Room.**

After bathing the girls had split up to their own rooms to get ready for bed. Shinobu had been allowed to get changed before Su and Keitaro had dragged her into Su's room. Leading them to her little clearing, Su bounced up into her hammock before pulling Keitaro up along with Shinobu. Rocking unsteadily Shinobu carefully crawled towards the other two. Laying down with Keitaro in between the two girls Su pulled a large blanket over three of them and hugged Keitaro. "mmmm You're so cuddly Kei-kun!" Keitaro grinned and turned to Shinobu. "Love you Nee-san." He lightly kissed her lips. Blushing furiously, she hugged him and nuzzled his hair. "Good night Keitaro-kun." Turning again he faced Su. "Love you too Nee-san." He kissed her lips but instead of the intended quick peck, Su held their lips together. "Love you too Kei-kun." She grinned and pulled his head to her small chest. "You hug him too Shinobu-chan!"

Doing as she was told she wrapped her arms around his small body and nuzzled his hair with Su. With her arms around him Shinobu squeezed the small sleeping boy. _'Is he really a ghost? He's so warm and soft, how can he not be alive?'_ the young boy turned so he was facing Shinobu. _'He's quite cute as well.'_ She blushed as she realised what she thought. Snuggling closer to him she smiled. _'I guess we won't find out until Motoko-sempai's sister comes back.'_ She thought as she fell off to sleep.

* * *

**The next day at Haruka's tea shop.**

As she was setting a cup of tea down for a customer Haruka heard the bell above her door ring. "Take a seat and I'll be with you in a- oh it's you." Her demeanour turning cold.

"It's good to see you too Aunty." The gothic girl matched her aunt's coldness as she placed her suitcase on the floor.

"So she sent you to look after Hinata Sou." Haruka observed.

"Who else would she send?" Kanako asked.

Haruka grunted in response. "So what are you doing down here?"

"I came to say hello to you and let you know that I'm taking over for you."

"Thanks." She said tersely "Now I'm sure you wouldn't want to keep your new tenants waiting." She told the girl as she started to walk off.

"Aren't you going to come up and introduce me to then?" Kanako asked.

Haruka stopped and turned towards her niece. "You're 16 years old Kanako-chan, I never held your hand when you were a kid and I have no intention of doing so now. I have neither the time nor the inclination to baby you." She stated as she disappeared into the back room.

Kanako sighed as she picked up her bag and left the shop. She never understood why her aunt never liked her but Haruka had never so much as smiled at her. A black shape announced itself with a tinkling of a bell as it jumped onto the pathway and entwined itself in her legs. Pausing she smiled and knelt down to pick up the shape. "Hello Kuro. Have you finished exploring already?" the cat responded by butting his head against her chin. "Well, let's go see where we're going to be living for the foreseeable future." The cat nya-ed at her and crawled up around her neck. Continuing her way up the stairs she smiled as the cat purred contently. For the longest time Kuro had been one of the few beings other than her grandmother that actually treated her with love. Even her parents always seemed... sort of absent with her. Not neglectful just not very attentive when it came to showing their daughter affection.

Reaching the top of the stairs she paused momentarily to take in the sight before entering the dorm. As Kanako walked into the living room she saw four girls, the eldest three sitting on the sofa and the younger blue haired girl sat on a chair to the side as they talked quietly amongst themselves. When they noticed her presence they all fell silent and turned to look at the new girl. "May we help you?" the auburn haired girl asked.

"Are you tenants here?" Kanako asked and the girls nodded. "I am Kanako Urashima. The new manager of Hinata Sou." She bowed to them. "It's nice to meet you."

"New manager?" Naru asked. "Why isn't Haruka-san the manager anymore?"

"I do not know the details beyond that Aunty is too busy with her tea shop to run this place." Kanako said. The girls shared a look between them which made Kanako raise an eyebrow.

Remembering her manners, Shinobu asked "Would you like something to drink, Urashima-san"

"Yes, thank you...?"

"I'm Shinobu Maehara. It's nice to meet you." Shinobu bowed before rushing off to the kitchen.

"Take a seat Kanako-san." Kitsune offered "I'm Mitsune Konno but everyone calls me Kitsune, this is Naru Narusegawa and this is Motoko Aoyama." Kitsune finished the introductions.

"Nice to meet you all." She nodded her head to the girls present "Are you four the only residents?"

"No there's another girl about Shinobu-chans age and then there's..." Naru trailed off as she looked at the other girls.

"And then there's...?" Kanako prompted.

"Why don't I just go get them?" Kitsune suggested as she stood up and hurried upstairs. Returning to the living room Shinobu served her new manageress tea.

"Thank you Maehara-san." She accepted the drink. "So who is this person you are reluctant to talk about?" she asked Naru.

"Er, well he-"

"He?" Kanako frowned "This is a girl's dorm. Why is there a man here?"

"He is not a man exactly, he is an eight year old boy." Motoko replied.

"That still doesn't explain why he lives here." Kanako pointed out.

"That's where it gets complicated." Naru said uncomfortably.

"He is Haruka-san's nephew Keitaro Urashima." Motoko informed her.

Kanako just stared at them. "I'm afraid you have been lied to." She said "Haruka has only one sister and that is my mother. And I do not have an eight year old brother. I presume you have told Haruka and that she has denied it?"

"Well, we sort of have two conflicting reports." Naru admitted.

Kanako was clearly not amused by this but before she could voice her opinions a tanned girl landed on her lap "Hiya I'm Su!" the girl cheered. "Who are you?"

"I've already told you that she's the new manager Su-chan." Kitsune said as she entered the room with a young boy holding her hand. "Her name's Kanako." Pulling Keitaro in front of her Kitsune said. "And this is our other resident."

Setting Su on the floor next to her, Kanako looked closely at the young boy. "What is your name?"

"I'm Keitaro Urashima who are you?" he asked with a smile.

"I am Kanako Urashima."

Keitaro's eyes lit up. "Urashima? Does that mean you're related to me and Aunty Haru?"

"Well, I'm Haruka's niece." She replied, still suspicious of this familiar looking boy's origins.

"Then you must be my cousin!" he declared. "I didn't know I had any other Aunts other than Haru-nee!" he said happily.

Kanako moved closer to his face until their noses were almost touching wondering where she had seen his face before. "Have we ever met?"

Keitaro looked closely at her face with an inquisitive look before grinning. "Nope! I'd have remembered someone as pretty as you!" he declared happily.

"As you can see he's quite the flirt." Naru smiled as ruffled his hair.

Grabbing her hand, Keitaro made sure that she didn't pull it away "Pat me some more!" he demanded with a laugh.

Seeing his laughing smile Kanako's eyes went wide as she realised where she had seen that smile before.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

**8 Years Ago**

An eight year old Kanako was led into the living room of her new parent's home. She didn't quite know what to make of her new family, their smiles seemed slightly hollow, sad even and she had no idea why.

"Would you like something to eat or drink Kanako-chan?" he father asked with a small smile.

"Yes please." She replied quietly.

Her father gently patted her head before moving towards the kitchen leaving Kanako alone with her mother. Looking around her new surroundings Kanako spotted a picture of her new parents with a grinning young boy. Now that she noticed it a lot of the photos around the walls contained the boy. "Mother? Who is that in all the photos?"

Her mother flinched slightly "That... That is your Onii-chan." She murmured.

Kanako looked up at the woman. "I have an Onii-chan? What is he like?"

"He...He is one of the most wonderful people you could ever meet. He is always kind and sweet; always helping others and making them smile. You're lucky to have an Onii-chan like him." She gave Kanako a weak smile.

Looking at the photos Kanako asked "When will I meet him?"

"It...It might be a while before you get a chance to meet him. He has gone on a trip very far away and he won't be back for a long time." She gently rubbed Kanako's head.

"I see." She said, somewhat disappointed. And that was all that was said on the matter.

The next day all the photos which contained her brother had been taken down.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Kanako stared at the face that she hadn't seen in eight years. _'I-Impossible!'_ she thought. _'H-How can you look the same as you did in that photo?'_

Keitaro was giving her a strange look. "What's wrong?" he asked. Kanako didn't answer. Instead she stood up and rushed out the door, down the stone steps to her aunt's tea shop. Bursting through the door Kanako asked one of the waitresses where her aunt is.

"Um, she's in the back but doesn't want to be dist- hey wait!" she called after the gothic girl who was rushing past the counter. Entering the back room Kanako say her aunt sitting at a table sipping a cup of tea. Looking up Haruka glared at the girl.

"What are you doing here? I told you already that I don't have the time or the patience to deal with you."

"I need to talk to you about Keitaro Urashima." Kanako stated.

Haruka's eyes narrowed. "Don't _you_ ever talk about him." She seethed.

"I have a right to know about my brother."

-Slap-

The back of Haruka's hand hit Kanako's cheek knocking her to the floor "He is _not_ your brother." Haruka growled at her.

Standing up Kanako held her red cheek and matched her aunt's glare. "Maybe not but I deserve to know what happened to hi- ack!" her words were cut short as Haruka's hand grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the wall.

"Deserve? You _deserve_? After you've taken everything that was meant to be his you have the cheek to tell me what you _deserve_?" Haruka snarled. As Haruka's grip around her throat tightened Kanako unsuccessfully tried to pry her fingers from her neck. "Listen to me you little bitch. Keitaro was a better person than you'll ever be. You're nothing but some cheap replacement, a usurper trying to take his place and it's pitiful that you don't realise that you're just a substitute who could never match up to a dead eight year old. No wonder your real parents abandoned you. If it was up to me I'd have thrown trash like you out into the street the moment you stepped onto our families land and when I say our family I'm talking about mine and Keitaro's. Not yours. You are not, nor have you ever been or will be an Urashima. I won't allow you to steal his name after you've stolen everything else from him." She threw her niece to the floor where she started to cough violently as she struggled to get her breath back. "Get the hell off of my property. You're not welcome here."

Kanako looked up at her aunt through the tears into Haruka's hate filled eyes. The same eyes that had glared at her since the moment they had met. Shakily getting to her feet Kanako left the back room, ignoring the looks she was getting from the customers and waitresses and exited the tea shop. Sitting on the stone steps she breathed deeply to regain her breath. Once the pain in her throat had lessened she noticed that her hands were shaking and tears were falling from her eyes.

"Are you OK?" a voice asked.

Looking up she saw Kitsune and Motoko looking at her with concern. "I am fine." She reassured them.

"Your neck..." Motoko motioned towards the red imprints that marred her pale skin.

"It's nothing." She insisted.

"So where did you run off to?" Kitsune asked.

"To ask Haruka about Keitaro-kun."

"I take it didn't go well?" Kitsune asked rhetorically though Kanako nodded. "Have you ever seen Keitaro-kun before?"

"Just in a photo about eight years ago. When I asked my mother about him she said that he was my brother and that he had gone far away and wouldn't come back for a long time." Kanako informed them "And according to Haruka he died before I was adopted by her sister."

"I see..." Kitsune said as she and Motoko shared a glance.

Looking up at them Kanako asked "What do you know about that boy up there?"

"Next to nothing I'm afraid. Apart from that Motoko-chans sister thinks he's a ghost."

"A ghost?" Kanako asked suspiciously.

Motoko sighed "My sister met Keitaro-kun years ago and told me that he died when he fell through some old floorboards. As for her theory about how Keitaro-kun can be upstairs..." Motoko quickly informed Kanako on what her sister had suggested.

"I see." Kanako murmured.

"You seem to be taking this in your stride." Kitsune noted.

"It is as good as any explanation that I have been able to come with as to why he looks the same as that photo I saw eight years ago." Kanako waved away the comment.

"So what are you going to do about him?" Motoko asked worried she might do something drastic to the boy.

Kanako shrugged "Until your sister tells us something new there's not much we can do. We'll just have to wait for her advice on the matter. Though I think I'll ask Granny about my Onii-chan."

Motoko and Kitsune looked at each other. "That might not be a good idea. Haruka-san did not react well when we told her her deceased nephew was living up in the dorm." Motoko said.

"I had no intention of telling my grandmother that. I merely want to know more about Keitaro-kun and why I was never told about him." Kanako responded. Agreeing with this course of action the three girls returned to the dorm. Entering the living room they found all the remaining girls and the resident male had wondered off. Picking up her suitcase and the cordless phone Kanako retreated to the manager's room. Sighing in distaste at the dust that layered her room she set her luggage down and sat on it to protect her clothes. Dialling her grandmother's number she waited for it to connect.

¬Hello?¬

"Granny, it's me."

¬Kana-chan!¬ she cried happily. ¬Have you settled into Hinata Sou yet?¬

"For the most part." She brought her hand up to her neck. "There is something that I wanted to know about."

¬Of course Kana-chan, what do you want to know?¬ came her grandmothers reply.

"I want to know about my brother Keitaro." She stated.

The line was silent before Hina's quiet voice said ¬How...How did you find out about him?¬

"I found a picture of him and I remembered seeing a photo of him when I first arrived at my parent's home."

¬I see... what do you want to know about him?¬ Hina replied.

"What happened to him, how long before I was adopted did it happen, am I just a replacement for him and is that the reason why Haruka hates me?" Kanako asked.

Hina sighed ¬It was about 2 years before my daughter and son-in-law adopted you. We were all going to go to the summer festival, me, your parents, Haruka-chan and Keitaro-kun. He... he had just finished getting ready and was coming down from his room to join us when he fell through the floorboards. When we all rushed to the hole and I saw the blood I knew that the night would not end well. I...I went down to get him. His... neck had been broken... the only fortunate aspect of the whole incident was that he likely felt little to no pain.¬

"I'm sorry, granny." Kanako murmured.

¬As for you being a replacement...¬ Hina sighed ¬I am so sorry Kana-chan but in a way yes. Your parents were so broken that they could barely function. They thought that if they adopted you they could fill the hold that Keitaro-kun left. It was selfish but I ask you do not blame them. I know that they were never able to show you any real love and I tried to make up for that by taking you under my wing. I just hoped that it was enough.¬

"It's fine Granny. You were always kind to me." Kanako reassured her grandmother. "And Haruka?"

¬She... again I ask you not to blame her. Keitaro-kuns death affected her more than any of us. She was probably closer to Keitaro-kun than any of us. Though she would never have admitted it she would have done anything for him. She would even trade places with him right now if the choice was given to her. When she found out about your adoption she saw it as someone trying to replace him, to take his place in our hearts and memories and she resented you for doing so.¬ Kanako could hear the tears running down her grandmothers face. ¬I am sorry Kanako-chan. You deserved better than what we could give you. I just hope that you can forgive us.¬

"I understand Granny." Kanako said, tears falling from her eyes. "I'm sorry I brought this up."

¬It's fine Kana-chan. You deserved to know. Take care of yourself OK?¬

"You too Granny. I love you."

¬I love you too Kana-chan.¬ Hina murmured back before the line went dead. Wiping the tears off her face Kanako took a deep breath and tried to collect herself. When she calmed down she looked about the room and sighed again at the layers of dust. Deciding that now was as good as time as any Kanako set about cleaning her new room.

* * *

Finishing the cleaning of her room and unpacking her belongings Kanako left her room and stretched her arms above her head. Hearing the pounding of footsteps she turned to see Keitaro rushing towards her holding her black cat. "Nee-san! Nee-san! Look what I found!" he cheered as he held out the cat.

Kneeling down she gently scratched the cats head with a small smile. "You found Kuro then."

"Kuro?" He blinked as he looked at the cat "Is Kuro-neko your name?" the cat yowled and affirmative and butted his head against Keitaro's chin. "Is he yours Nee-san?" he asked.

Nodding she smiled at him "That's right, I've had Kuro here for a long time." Looking at them Kanako was surprised at how well they were getting on. "Has he bit or scratched you?"

Keitaro shook his head and said "Uh-uh why?"

"Kuro doesn't usually get on with new people but I guess you have the magic touch." She smiled and gently rubbed the top of his head making him grin and nuzzle into her hand.

"Nee-san can I ask you something?" he asked sweetly.

"If you like." She told him.

"Who are your parents? I know your Haru-nee's niece like I'm her nephew but I didn't think that I had any other aunt's or uncles other than her."

Kanako paused in her rubbing of his head as she thought about what to tell him. Deciding that the truth, or at least a part truth would be best she told him "My parents names are Saiga and Kumiko Urashima."

Kanako watched as the smile slowly fall from his face. "But those are my parents." He said.

"Yes, I know." Kanako said, now worried that she had said something wrong.

"B-But I don't have a sister. How can they be your parents?" he asked with confused eyes.

"Keitaro-kun." She started.

"Have you been living with mum and dad?" he asked.

"I was up until a little while ago but recently I have been with Granny Hina." She replied but regretted it as soon as she saw his eyes fill with tears.

"B-But why have you been with them? W-why didn't they come get me to come stay with them?" he asked as tears started to run down his face.

"Keitaro-kun I-" she didn't get a chance to comfort him as he ran off crying. "Keitaro wait!" she called after him but he just continued running. Almost knocked down by the weeping boy Motoko narrowly dodged the child as she walked around a corner.

"Keitaro!" she called out but he ignored her. Turning around she glared at Kanako. "What did you say to him?"

"I just told him who my parents are." Kanako replied.

"Why would you tell him that!" Motoko snapped at the manageress.

"What would you have me say to him?" Kanako snapped back.

"Anything that wouldn't make him run off crying!"

"How was I meant to know that would happen? Forgive me but I don't have much experience dealing with ghosts." She glared at the kendo girl.

"Don't treat him like a ghost! Treat him like a child! He probably thinks his parents replaced him! How would you react if you found out that your parents replaced you?"

"I have no idea. My parents just abandoned me at an orphanage so I wouldn't have any idea what it's like to be replaced." She growled back at her.

Both women glared at each other with their hackles raised, sizing each other up until Motoko turned and walked away. "I am going to find Keitaro and make sure he is alright. I suggest that you think of a way to apologise to him." She said leaving Kanako to her thoughts.

* * *

Moving through the dorm Motoko searched for the young boy. Going past a door she heard a soft sobbing from inside. Sliding it open slightly she saw Keitaro sitting in the corner of one of the unused room with his arms around his legs crying into his knees.

Moving over to him, she knelt down and gently stroked his back "Kei-kun are you alright."

Keitaro just kept crying for a moment before asking "N-Nee–san what's wrong with me? Aunty hates me, Mum and Dad don't visit but let Kanako-san stay with them, Granny's left me, w-why doesn't anyone want to be near me? W-What did I do wrong to make everyone hate me?" he cried not looking up from his knees.

Her heart breaking for the young boy Motoko pulled him into a tight hug and stroked his back while he wept into her chest. "Kei-kun, no one hates you."

"Then why does everyone leave me?" he wept. "Mum, Dad, Aunty, Granny. None of them want to be near me!"

"That's not true Kei-kun." She tried to correct the boy but was having trouble coming up with evidence to the contrary. "Besides, there's all of us here at Hinata Sou. And we won't leave you." She rubbed his back.

"You promise?" he sniffed as he pulled away from her chest.

"Of course I do so no more crying OK?" she smiled and wiped the tears from his face. Nodding his head he hugged Motoko tightly around her neck.

"Love you Nee-san." He nuzzled into the crook of her neck.

Squeezing him tightly she smiled and kissed the top of his head. "Love you too Kei-kun." Pulling him back she smiled gently at him. "Let's get out of dusty room OK?" Keitaro nodded and stood up off her lap. Standing up as well, Motoko gently took a hold of his hand and led him out the door.

* * *

Taking him to the living room they found Kitsune and Kanako talking to each other. Seeing the pair enter the room they ended their conversation and Kanako turned to Keitaro who was hiding behind Motoko's leg. "Keitaro-kun my I speak with you for a moment?" Kanako asked softly.

Keitaro held onto Motoko's leg more tightly but she gently pushed him in front of her. Kneeling down so that she was eye level with him Kanako said "Keitaro-kun, I think you misunderstood me when we talked earlier." Keitaro remained silent and stared at her. "How old are you?" she asked.

"Eight." Came his hesitant reply.

"Well I'm 16. Do you know what that means?" Keitaro shook his head. "That means I was born before you. That means you're my little brother." She gave him a sweet smile. "I know we've never met before but that's because I was sent away to train with some distant cousins of ours just before you were born and recently with granny when she decided to go on her world tour. When I said I had been staying with our parents I meant I had visited them for a few days before coming here to meet my cute little brother."

"R-Really?" Keitaro asked.

"Yes, really." She gently rubbed his head. "Now I want you to know something. Just because Granny, our parents and Aunty don't come to see you often doesn't mean that that they don't love you and don't think about you every day. They just don't have much time to spend with you anymore but you've got me and everyone else here at Hinata Sou to keep you company now so it's OK right?"

"You... you're my Onee-sama?" he asked with wonderment in his voice.

"That's right. I'm your big sister and you're my little brother." She smiled.

"Onee-Sama!" Keitaro leapt at her and threw his arms around her and nuzzled into her neck. Caught off guard by this Kanako nearly fell over backwards at the surprise glomp but quickly steadied herself and returned the hug.

"You two seem to be getting along with each other." Naru smiled at she entered the room and sat down next to Kitsune.

Pulling away from Kanako, Keitaro jumped up onto the sofa and sat on Naru's lap. "Nee-san, guess what! I've got a real Onee-sama!" he said excitedly.

"Is that so?" she grinned and stroked his hair. "Aren't you lucky?"

While Keitaro was bragging about his new sister to Naru and Kitsune, Kanako had stood up and was approached by Motoko. "Was it wise to lie to him like that?"

"Wasn't it you who was just berating me about telling him the truth?" Kanako countered. "Besides it's not far from the truth. Everyone still thinks about him and loves him and in a way I am his sister. Isn't it better this way?"

"Time will tell I suppose." Motoko smiled. "By the way, you mentioned training?"

"That's right. The Urashima family has its own style." Kanako replied.

"Perhaps we can spar sometime? It has been a while since I've had someone to train with." Motoko smiled.

Kanako returned her smile "Perhaps." She nodded when she felt someone pull on her skirt. Looking down she saw Keitaro grinning up at her. Kneeling down she asked "Yes Kei-kun?"

"Onee-sama, would it be alright if I slept with you tonight?" he requested hopefully.

"Whatever you want Kei-kun." She rubbed his head fondly.

"Yay!" he cheered and wrapped his arms around her in a hug nuzzling happily into her neck.

* * *

**Later that night in Kanako's Room**

After spending the majority of the day together the 'siblings' ended up in the managers room with Keitaro sitting on Kanako's lap happily playing with Kuro. Kanako was hugging him tightly around his waist smiling softly at the young boy. While she had never really gotten on with anyone other than her grandmother, her brother had quickly grown on her. Giving him a squeeze Kanako leaned down and rested her chin on his shoulder and said. "It's getting late Kei-kun. We should get to bed now."

"OK, Onee-sama." He agreed with a happy smile.

"I've been meaning to ask you, why do call me 'Onee-sama' and the others 'Nee-san'?"

Letting Kuro go, Keitaro spun around on her lap and wrapped his arms and legs around her body. " 'cause you're my Onee-sama and they're my Nee-sans." He explained and he squeezed her tightly.

"Is that so?" she smiled and kissed his forehead. "Come on. Let's get ready for bed."

"Sure Onee-sanma." He kissed her cheek and stood off of her lap. Standing up Kanako ruffled his hair before moving over to her dresser to retrieve her nightdress. Setting the dress to one side for the moment, Kanako slid her black skirt down her toned legs and placed it to the side to be washed before doing the same with her knee length socks. Unbuttoning her black waistcoat and white blouse she placed them next to her skirt with her bra soon following suit. Just as she hooked her fingers under the waistband of her panties she heard Keitaro murmur in amazement "Wow..."

Turning around she saw a pyjama clad Keitaro staring at her with his eyes wide. "What's wrong Kei-kun?"

"Onee-sama is really beautiful." He said, his voice laden with wonderment as he approached the young woman. "Your skin's really pale and pretty." He told her as he reached out and gently stroked her thigh. "It's really soft too!" he grinned as he hugged her leg and rubbed his cheek against her.

"H-Hey!" Kanako cried, not used to this kind of affection. Before she could do anything Keitaro climbed up her back and buried her nose in her hair.

"Your hair feels so soft and silky!" he nuzzled into her tresses. "And it smells really nice as well." before she could say anything Keitaro slipped around her front and snuggled into her small breasts. "You're really soft here too!" he giggled happily.

Kanako's face was bright red "What are you doing?" she cried.

"Skinship with my pretty Onee-sama!" he declared happily as he rubbed his face against her chest.

Staring down at him she thought with a frown _'I-Is this kid some kind of a pervert?' _Just as she was about grab hold of him he quietly said "I'm really happy. A few days ago I was really lonely 'cause no one ever came to visit me but now I've got lots of Nee-sans that'll play with me and my very own Onee-sama who's really beautiful and will spend time with me." He looked up at her with a grin. "I'm really lucky!"

Kanako stared down at the boy for a moment before wrapping her arms around him and hugging him close to her chest. _'How long was he alone for?'_ she though sadly. _'I don't think our parents ever stepped foot in here after what happened. Whenever I came to visit Granny they would drop me off and pick me up at the bottom of the stairs. Granny was always out and about, you'd hardly ever see her around Hinata Sou and from what I understand Haruka wanted nothing to do with this place. Granny even had to build her the tea shop to make sure her daughter wasn't sleeping rough to avoid coming up here. It must have been unbearable for him.'_ She squeezed him tightly to her chest to make sure that he didn't see the tears in her eyes. "You don't have to worry about being alone anymore. Your Onee-sama is going to take good care of her cute little brother from now on and make sure he's never lonely again, OK?" she kissed the top of his head as she ran her fingers through his scruffy hair. "Now let's get to bed OK?" Kanako said as she carried him to the futon.

"Aren't you going to get dressed Onee-sama?" he asked.

"Of course not." She gave him a sweet little smile. "Skinship is better when I'm like this isn't it?" Keitaro giggled and nodded his head before nuzzling closer to her. Slipping into the futon Kanako lay on her side holding Keitaro close to her body. Looking down at his cute face she saw his eyes were closed and that he was breathing very lightly. Thinking he was asleep Kanako kissed his forehead and was about to whisper goodnight when he said

"You know, I always wanted a little sister." Kanako tilted her head slightly.

"Is that so?

"Uhuh. I wanted to teach her all kinds of stuff and cuddle with her when we went to sleep and beat up anyone who made her sad." He looked up at her and grinned. "But having an Onee-sama as beautiful as you to cuddle up with is just as good!"

Looking down into his big honest, love filled eyes and smiled. "I'm glad you feel that way Kei-kun. It's time for us to get to sleep now OK?"

"OK Onee-sama." He nodded. Leaning up, Keitaro pressed his lips against hers before snuggling into her breasts. "Love you Onee-sama." He murmured.

Kanako blinked. This little boy just kept on surprising her. He has known her less than a day and already he had accepted her as his Onee-sama and declared his love for her. And she could tell there was no hollowness to his words. He meant exactly what he said. Kanako felt a warmth spread out from her heart engulfing her whole body as tears formed in her eyes. This was the first time in her life that someone felt such unadulterated love for her and she found that she couldn't help but love him back. Squeezing him tightly, she held him close to her chest "Love you too Kei-kun." She said before whispering. "You would have made a wonderful Onii-chan." Seeing him smile in his sleep Kanako nuzzled into his scruffy brown hair before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

**Authors note from Rincewind1990:**

Another chapter down and most likely one more to go. I've done 4500 words (As of 27/07/2010) and have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to write. Unfortunately I have not been able to get a hold of MotormMaster so he hasn't been able to look this chapter over nor talk about any other ideas but since we've already discussed it we know how this fic is going to end and have most of the last scene written so hopefully it won't be too long until I get the new one out.


	5. Chapter 4

**Ghost of Hinata**

* * *

**Last Time On Ghost of Hinata**

_Kanako blinked. This little boy just kept on surprising her. He has known her less than a day and already he had accepted her as his Onee-sama and declared his love for her. And she could tell there was no hollowness to his words. He meant exactly what he said. Kanako felt a warmth spread out from her heart engulfing her whole body as tears formed in her eyes. This was the first time in her life that someone felt such unadulterated love for her and she found that she couldn't help but love him back. Squeezing him tightly, she held him close to her chest "Love you too Kei-kun." She said before whispering. "You would have made a wonderful Onii-chan." Seeing him smile in his sleep Kanako nuzzled into his scruffy brown hair before drifting off to sleep._

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 4**

**The Next Morning in the Small Bathtub**

After spending a comfortable night in each other's arms Kanako had awoken to see the large brown eyes of her little brother filled with happiness and love. After a morning greeting and kiss from Keitaro, Kanako hugged her brother and suggested that they have a bath together before they go down for breakfast. Getting his agreement Kanako wrapped a robe around her and carried Keitaro to the private bathroom where we find Kanako smiling at the happily humming Keitaro on her lap.

Nuzzling into his hair with her arms around his waist Kanako sighed contently as his soft humming and warm water relaxed her. With her chin resting on top of his head she asked. "Hey, Kei-kun. Mum's sings that song you're humming doesn't she?"

Looking up at her he smiled "Uhuh, mum always sings it. It's her favourite! She used to sing me to sleep with it..." he trailed off sadly before grinning at Kanako "I hum it when I'm lonely but this time I'm humming it 'cause I'm happy!" Kanako smiled and kissed the top of his head as he started to hum again. In truth she had only heard her mother sing it a few times when she thought she was alone and Kanako found that she had the most beautiful singing voice. She had often wondered why her mother never sang more often but much of her family's behaviour had been explained as a result of yesterday's events.

Closing her eyes she held him close to her and softly joined his hum with her voice.

_~I gaze up from the rooftops and feel the suns warmth~  
~Looking into the sky, you can feel the energy building up inside~  
~That's so wonderful!~  
~I feel so alive~  
~I can't stop. I can't ever give up!~  
~I'm saying goodbye to those days when I felt so down.~  
~I've got these feelings bubbling up from inside!~  
~You've gotta nurture those flowers that'll bloom over and over!~  
~It's comforting to run away into your memories, but you've got to break free from them and live for tomorrow.~  
~Your time to celebrate will come, but you've gotta hold your arms out wide.~  
~Days of struggle and turmoil will go on and on, and you'll swing back and forth between heaven and hell.~  
~You've gotta nurture those flowers that'll bloom over and over!~  
~You've got to run and run until you've found true love.~  
~Any pain along the way is welcome news to me.~  
~Your time to celebrate will come, but you've gotta hold your arms out wide.~  
~Stretch your arms out wide...~  
~And hold those hands up high!~_

When she finished the last verse she noticed that Keitaro had stopped humming. Opening her eyes she saw him looking at her with amazement in his eyes. "What's wrong Kei-kun?"

"You sounded so beautiful." He said in wonderment "You sounded just like mum does."

"Is that so?" she smiled gently and pulled his head to her chest. "If you want, I can sing you to sleep every night." She told him as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"I'd like that Onee-sama." He replied quietly as he nuzzled into her breasts. Kanako just squeezed him tightly and kissed the top of his head. Stroking his back Kanako said "Let's get out now and get ready for breakfast."

"Sure Onee-sama." He grinned and pressed his lips against hers. Smiling at him Kanako held him close and stood up, carrying out of the bath and sat on one of the stools to dry themselves. Wrapping a towel around the small boy on her lap she rubbed him all over to get the water off of him all the while he was giggling happily. When she finished, Keitaro grabbed a dry towel of his own and proceeded to return the favour. Finishing with her front, Keitaro hopped off her lap and moved around to her back. After he finished his job Keitaro dropped the towel and hugged Kanako from behind, rubbing his cheek between her shoulder blades. Looking over her shoulder she smiled back at him "What are you up to Kei-kun?"

"Feeling your skin." He grinned.

Reaching behind her Kanako grabbed her brother and pulled him onto her lap surprised to see that a miniature robe had somehow materialised around him. Deciding not to comment on it Kanako smiled at him she asked. "Do you like my skin?"

"Uhuh. It's really soft and smooth." He told her happily as he rested his head on her breasts and gently stroked her belly. "It looks really pale and pretty. I'm so lucky to have such a beautiful Onee-sama like you."

With her arms around him she kissed his forehead and buried her nose in his hair. "And I'm so lucky to have such a cute little brother like you." Keitaro giggled and hugged her tightly, rubbing his face against her breasts. "Let me just put on a robe and then we'll get dressed for breakfast." Giving him a kiss on the lips, she placed him on the floor before slipping on her robe. Once she tightened the sash Keitaro climbed up her back, his second favourite place to be with his arms wrapped around her neck and cheek pressed and rubbing against hers. Smiling as he kissed her cheek Kanako left the private bathroom.

On the way back to the manager's room the Urashima pair ran into Motoko. "Morning Moto nee-san!" Keitaro cheered.

"Good morning Kei-kun, Kanako-san." The kendo girl smiled as she gently petted his head. "Did you two just have your bath?" she asked him.

"Uhuh, me and Onee-sama are all clean now." He grinned and rubbed his cheek against his sisters.

Smiling at him Motoko said "That's nice Kei-kun. Shinobu-chan will have breakfast ready soon so don't be too long."

"We'll be right down once we've gotten dressed, right Kei-kun?" Kanako smiled at the boy.

"Yup!" he grinned and kissed her cheek. Smiling at him Motoko ruffled his hair again before saying that she would see them downstairs. As they entered their room Kanako set him down and tenderly kissed his forehead before ruffling his hair and turning towards the dressed. Slipping off her robe she set it to one side before pulling out a pair of panties and quickly pulled them up her slim legs. As she pulled out a pair of socks Kanako felt her brother hug her leg. Looking down at him she saw that Keitaro had already gotten dressed. Again ignoring the rapid costume change she reached down and ran her fingers through his hair. "Something wrong Kei-kun?"

Shaking his head he asked "Can I help you get dressed, Onee-sama?"

Tilting her head curiously she replied "Why do you want to help me get dressed?"

"Just wanna." He mumbled as he rubbed his cheek against her thigh.

Smiling at him she said "Whatever you want Kei-kun." Sitting on the floor she handed the socks the happy boy who gleefully pulled the socks up to her knees. "OK Kei-kun, hand me my bra over there." She pointed out the item of clothing. Doing as he was told, he handed it to Kanako who slipped the straps over her shoulders. "Now Kei-kun can you do up the catch at the back for me?"

Nodding his head Keitaro moved around her back and pulled the two straps together and hooked them together. "Is that alright Onee-sama?"

"That's great Kei-kun." She grinned as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled the giggling boy close to her and kissed his head. Standing up she petted his head and said "Next is the skirt." Nodding his head Keitaro grabbed the skirt and handed it to here. "OK, now we wrap it around my hips and then do up the catch." She instructed him as she held the sides for him to do it up himself. Doing as he was told Keitaro smiled up at his sister and waited for her next command.

"Good work Kei-kun, now can you get one of my shirts from the cupboard?" nodding his head he moved towards the cupboard and opened the door. After several unsuccessful jumps trying to pull down on her shirts he finally managed to and brought it to Kanako. Thanking him Kanako slipped the shirt on and asked "Do you want to do up the buttons for me?"

"Sure Onee-sama." He grinned happily as he started to do up her buttons. Keitaro frowned as he reached about half way up her shirt and realised that he couldn't reach any higher. Watching as he unsuccessfully tried to reach the other buttons Kanako couldn't help but think about how cute he looked. Deciding to put him out of his misery Kanako picked him up and placed him on the dresser "Is this better Kei-kun?" nodding his head Keitaro finished the last of her buttons. Kissing his forehead she said "Now there's just my hair to do. Do you want to help with that as well?"

"Yes please Onee-sama." He grinned. Rubbing his head Kanako picked him up and set him on the floor. Sitting on the floor she handed Keitaro her hair brush and let him run the brush through her silky hair. Once he finished Kanako pulled him onto her lap and kissed his nose. "Now I just have to tie this ribbon in my hair and... we're done!" she grinned at her brother "How do I look?"

"Beautiful." He grinned at her.

Returning his smile she said "Well there's only one thing left to do. Do you know what that is?" Keitaro shook his head as he gave her a curious look. "It's giving my wonderful little brother a thank you kiss." With that she cupped his chin and gently pressed her lips against his. Giggling happily as they broke the kiss Keitaro wrapped his arms tightly around Kanako and rested his head between her breasts.

"Did I do a good job, Onee-sama?" he asked.

"You did great Kei-kun." she smiled as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"If you want I can do this for you every day. You just have to stay with me and can't ever leave me." he told her quietly and hugged her strongly.

"You don't have to worry about that. I'm not going to leave you." She assured the boy as she squeezed him tightly. Kissing the top of his she stood up and Keitaro settled into his favourite position, his head resting on her chest, arms and legs around Kanako's slim body and his sister's arms holding him close to her. "Let's go get something to eat." She told him as she walked towards the door.

* * *

Answering the ringing telephone Motoko said "Hinata Sou dorm."

¬Motoko-chan it's me Tsuruko.¬ the voice said.

Motoko blinked "Sister? I did not expect to hear from you so soon. Do you have any information?"

¬Unfortunately no.¬ she sighed. ¬I have made some discreet equerries with some of our teachers and masters but they have never heard of anything like this. Neither did any of the elders. I even had them look through all the scrolls of our schools history but we were unable to find anything even remotely similar.¬

"So what do you suggest we do now?" Motoko asked.

¬Well, a few of the elders want to come to Hinata Sou with their apprentices and examine him themselves.¬

Motoko was silent for a moment. "Would you be able to conceal their absence from _him_?" she asked, the thought leaving a bad taste in her mouth.

Her sister sighed. ¬Perhaps for a day or two. We can say that we want to see how you are adjusting to your new environment but he will be suspicious.¬

"I see." Motoko frowned "I should tell you that Keitaro-kuns big sister is the new manager of Hinata Sou."

The phone was silent. ¬Kei-kun does not have a big sister. He is an only child.¬

"She was adopted after he died. She arrived here yesterday and informed us that she will be taking over as manager from Haruka. Though they just met yesterday she appears to have become very attached to him already."

¬I understand Motoko-chan.¬ her sister answered.

"When are you going to come here?"

¬I am hoping that we will be there this afternoon if that is alright.¬ Tsuruko asked. Before she could answer Keitaro and Kanako descended the stairs and the young boy called out a greeting to her. ¬Is that Kei-kun? May I speak to him?¬

"Of course" she replied to the telephone before turning to Keitaro "Kei-kun, my sister wants to talk to you."

Keitaro's eyes lit up. "Tsu nee-san?" he cheered happily as Kanako carried him over to the kendo girl. Receiving the phone, Keitaro asked "Tsu nee-san?"

¬Hello Kei-kun, how are you doing?¬ Tsuruko smiled down the phone.

"Tsu nee-san, guess what! I've got an Onee-sama!" he cried happily.

¬So I've been told.¬ Tsuruko replied. ¬What's she like?¬

"She's really kind, soft, snuggly and beautiful just like you are." He told her.

¬That's good Kei-kun.¬ she said ¬Kei-kun, I've told some people here all about you and they wanted to meet you. Would that be alright?¬

"Why do they want to meet me?" he asked curiously.

¬Because I told them how cute you are!¬ Tsuruko laughed.

"Um... let me ask Onee-sama." Turning to Kanako he said "Onee-sama, Tsu nee-san said she wants to bring some people over to see me. Is that all right?" Kanako glanced at Motoko for a moment before nodding. "Onee-sama says it's alright."

¬OK Kei-kun I'll see you later today.¬ she told him.

"OK Tsu nee-san. Love you."

¬Love you too Kei-kun. Goodbye.¬

"Goodbye Nee-san." He said before the line went dead. After he handed the phone to Motoko, Kanako set him down on the floor.

"Kei-kun why don't you go into the dining room and say good morning to the others." She told him as she rubbed his head.

"OK Onee-sama." He grinned up at her before wandering off.

Turning to Motoko the gothic sister said "I have no intention of letting anyone upset or cause any harm to him."

Motoko blinked. "I am sure my sister has no intention of harming or upsetting Kei-kun."

"I'm sure she doesn't. But what about the people she's bringing with her? If any of them even think about hurting my brother I will hold both you and your sister accountable." Kanako threatened.

Motoko gave her an amused smile. "You seem very protective of him. You're not even related to him by blood and yesterday you didn't even know he existed. Even now we don't know in what capacity he exists but you are willing to fight to protect him. May I ask what happened last night to cause such devotion?"

"Kei-kun always wanted a little sister." She said quietly "He told me that last night. I know that if what happened to him never happened I probably would never have been adopted by his parents but I just can't help but think out how different my life would have been if I had an Onii-chan like him. In the short time that I have known him he has shown me more affection and love than anyone else in my life. Even Granny could be distant sometimes as if she didn't want to get too close to me in case I followed in my brother's footsteps." Kanako murmured "If he had become my Onii-chan he would have loved, cared for and protected me unconditionally. The least I could do is repay the favour that he never got to perform otherwise what kind of sister would I be?" she said.

"I see." Motoko smiled.

Kanako mmmed before walking towards the dining room. Stopping she looked over her shoulder and said "If you like we can spar after breakfast."

"I would like that Kanako-san." Motoko smiled and bowed slightly before following Kanako into the dining room.

**

* * *

**

**Laundry deck of Hinata Sou**

Panting heavily the two women stared at each other, their clothes dishevelled and torn slightly, both still in defensive stances; Motoko with her bokken raised and Kanako with her fists up, both ready defend and counter attack if the other moved. "I...I think we should call it a draw." Motoko gasped.

Kanako nodded and relaxed her stance. "You're good." She replied.

"You too." Motoko sheathed her wooden sword. "I've never met someone outside of my school able to defend against our style especially barehanded."

"And apart from Granny Hina I've never met someone I couldn't defeat." Kanako stretched her arms above her head. "Are all practitioners of your school this skilled?"

Motoko shook her head and wiped sweat from her forehead. "Apart from the masters and elders of our schools myself and my sister are considered the most skilled."

"I see." Kanako smiled. Before they could continue their conversation they were interrupted by cheering from the sidelines.

"Onee-sama you were great!" Keitaro cheered as he waved a small flag with a chibi version of Kanako's face imprinted on it.

"You too Motoko!" Su jumped around as she waved a small flag with a chibi version of Motoko's face imprinted on it.

Smiling at the children, the two girls walked over to them and patted their respective cheerleader on the head and accepted a bottle of water and a towel from them. "You were amazing Onee-sama!"

"Thank you Kei-kun." She smiled down at him and wiped the sweat from her face.

"You were amazing as well, Motoko-chan!" Su cheered making Motoko smile. "Wasn't she Kei-kun?"

"uhuh." He smiled up at her. "But Kana Onee-sama is much better!" he said as he hugged her leg.

Su frowned at the boy "What are you talking about? Motoko is much better! Didn't you see how awesome she was with her sword?"

"Yea, but Onee-sama was able to fight to a draw with just her hands! That shows you just how good she is!" he glared at the tanned girl.

Su returned his glare "Anyone can throw a punch but it takes skills to use a sword!"

"But it takes more skill to defend against someone who uses a sword than someone who doesn't. So my Onee-sama is better." He declared.

Narrowing their eyes at each other with a spark passing between them the pair lunged at each other ending up in a cloud of dust with arms, legs, and the occasional head poking out of the cloud every so often. Deciding to put an end to this before they hurt each other the elder girls reached into the cloud and pulled out their respective charges finding that the battle of the fruit had been picked up where it had been left off as Su and Keitaro had an apple and banana respectively shoved into their mouths.

"That's enough of that OK?" Kanako scolded him as she held Keitaro close to her chest.

"You too Su-chan." She held Su the same way. "We fought each other to a draw so that means we are equally skilled. Right Kanako-san?"

"That's right. Now since me and Motoko-san are all sweaty who don't we all go take a dip in the springs?"

"OK Onee-sama." He grinned at her after swallowed the banana.

"Good." Motoko smiled. "And you behave yourself Su-chan."

"You too Kei-kun." Kanako told him.

"M'kay." The pair pouted.

**

* * *

**

Entering the hot springs with towels wrapped around their bodies, all the while Keitaro and Su were holding onto their respective charges legs. "Onee-sama do you want me to wash your back for you?"

"Thank you Kei-kun, I'd like that." She smiled and rubbed his head.

"Come on Onee-sama." He took a hold of her hand and led her to the stools giving Su a smug smile as he walked past her.

Puffing out her cheeks and a vain throbbing in her forehead Su grabbed Motoko's hand and pulled her to the stools. "Come on Motoko, I'll wash your back for you!" sitting her next to Kanako she ran a cloth up and down her back and poking her tongue out at her rival.

Frowning, Keitaro turned away and hugged Kanako, rubbing his cheek against her back. "Your skin is really soft Onee-sama." He smiled sweetly over at Su.

"Your skin is soft too Motoko." She copied Keitaro and rubbed her cheek against the kendo girls back.

"um, Thank you?" she asked uncomfortably.

"Am I doing a good job Onee-sama?" he asked, turning away from the smug Su.

"A very good job Kei-kun." She smiled back at him.

Su puffed out her cheeks and glared at him. Turning back to Motoko's back she cried "I'll do an even better job! Maximum Strength!" with that she roughly rubbed up and down Motoko's pale skin as quickly as she could.

"Ah! Su-chan, be more gentle!" Motoko scolded her.

Keitaro frowned and puffed out his cheeks as he copied Su. "I can do it better than that!"

"Kei-kun, not so rough!" she told him as both women reached around and pulled the child onto their lap. "What are you two doing?" Kanako asked the pair.

"Washing your backs." Both Su and Keitaro said innocently at the same time.

Pulling his cheeks she said "Don't be cheeky." Which received a giggle. "Let's get in the springs." She gently rubbed his head.

"OK, Onee-sama." He leaned up and kissed her. Carrying them into the pool, Kanako and Motoko sat side by side with their respective child sitting on their lap hugging them. "Onee-sama, you're really soft." He said as he nuzzled into his chest.

Looking over at him Su said "Motoko is even softer." She smiled at him.

Keitaro narrowed his eyes at the tanned princess. "But Onee-sama's skin is a lot prettier. Look how pale it is. It looks like it's glowing!" he pointed out and gently stroked her side.

Su huffed "She might have prettier skin but Motoko has bigger boobs!" Su grabbed Motoko's breasts and squeezed. "See how huge they are?"

"S-Su-chan!" Motoko cried at the groping while blushing.

Keitaro glared at her "So what? Just because they're bigger doesn't mean they're better. Onee-sama's boobs are just as beautiful as Motoko-nee's boobs!" he declared as he squeezed Kanako's breasts.

"Kei-kun!" she frowned at her brother.

"You're too young to realise that big boobs are the best!" Su countered as she fondled Motoko's large mounds.

"It doesn't matter how big they are. All that matters is if they're goon for snuggling with like Onee-sama's are!" he demonstrated this by burying his face in her breasts.

"Motoko's are great for that too!" she insisted and nuzzled into Motoko's chest.

Both of the blushing woman's eyes twitched and a vain in their foreheads throbbed as they raised a shaking clenched fist.

"Su-chan...!" Motoko growled.

"Kei-kun...!" Kanako growled.

-Bam- -Bam-

"Are these two even friends?" Kanako asked Motoko as she looked at the children floating on their backs with swirls in their eyes and large bumps on their heads.

"I think they are." Motoko said with a smile. "They just enjoy arguing with each other."

"What are you talking about, Nee-san?" Keitaro frowned as he and Su sat up. "I would never argue with Su nee-san. I love her!" he protested as he sat on her lap and wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her small chest.

"That's right!" Su agreed "I love Kei-kun too. He's just a misguided child and as his Nee-san it's my responsibility to set him right." She rubbed his head.

Keitaro frowned up at her "What's that suppose to mean?"

"It means that you are still naive about the world and need someone as smart and pretty as Su to teach you." She grinned at him.

"That's not true, I'm just as smart as you!" he told her. "Just because you're an _old lady_ doesn't mean you're smarter than me."

Su's eye twitched. "Fu Fu Fu, silly Kei-kun." She laughed as she roughly rubbed his head. "You're acting awfully high and mighty for a brat who doesn't even realise a banana is better than an apple."

"Who are you calling a brat you old lady!" he scowled at her. "And apples are better than bananas!"

"Fu Fu Fu, little brats like you should show your elders proper respect." She petted him heavily on the head. "And you should listen to them when they know more than you do."

"Humph, I refuse to believe you're older than me!" he told her. "Your boobs are too tiny!" He placed his hands over her small breasts. "Even Onee-samas boobs are bigger!"

Kanako frowned. _'Even?'_ she thought as her eye twitched.

Su glared down at him "What are you talking about? There's no way my boobs are as small as that!"

Kanako had tears waterfalling down her face_ 'Even Su-chan thinks I have small breasts.'_ She cried to herself as Motoko patted her shoulder sympathetically.

"Yes they are!" he gave her a squeeze. "You're an old lady with no boobs who doesn't even know apples are the best!"

The pair narrowed their eyes at each other with a spark shooting between them before lunging at each other. Pulling them apart to stop one of them drowning the elder girls hugged them close to their chests. Grabbing his cheeks and pulling on them Kanako said "We told the two of you to behave, didn't we?"

"Sowy Onee-swama." He garbled.

"It's OK Kei-kun. No more fighting."

"We weren't fighting; I was just giving him a lovetap." Su protested as she nuzzled into Motoko's chest.

"That's right." Keitaro agreed with a yawn. "I would never fight with Su nee-san." He said as he snuggled closer to her. "You feel really warm Onee-sama. And you're really comfortable too."

"You too Motoko." Su agreed as both children fell asleep.

"How can they be tired? It's not even lunch time." Kanako wondered as she ran her fingers through Keitaro's hair.

"They probably use up a lot of energy arguing." Motoko smiled before looking over at Keitaro. "It seems someone has a new favourite."

"I'm sure it's brotherly bias more than anything." She pulled him closer to her chest before looking at the kendo girl. "Though I don't think I can say the same about the two of you." She smiled.

"It does appear she has become attached to me doesn't it?" she smiled and gently stroked Su's short blond hair.

"Figuratively and literally." Kanako smiled before sighing and looking down at her brother. "What do think will happen to him?"

"We shall have to wait for my sister and the others from my school to arrive. Until then there is no point in thinking about it."

'_I can't help but think about it.'_ She thought sadly to herself and pulled her brother closer to her body. _'I don't want to lose him after only just meeting him. I've known him for less than a day and he's already the closest thing I have to family. I can't help but worry that Motoko's sister and the people from her school will take him away from me.'_

"Kanako-san?" the gothic manager was pulled out of her thoughts by Motoko's voice.

"Yes?"

"I think we should get out the springs before these two overheat." She gestured to the two children.

"Sure." She nodded as she gave Keitaro's forehead a kiss before rising out of the water and heading to the changing room with Motoko following close behind.

**

* * *

**

**Sometime Later at the Bottom of Stone Staircase**

"Hinata Sou is just at the top of this stairway. Will you be able to climb them without assistance?" she asked the collection of elders and their apprentices.

Chuckling slightly a wizened old man dressed in a light green yukata and carrying a walking stick said "We may be old but we are not infirm Tsuruko-san. The day we are unable to transverse a simple staircase is the day that we shall retire from our positions in the school." He smiled at her.

"Though we needn't push ourselves unnecessarily." One of the female elders interjected. She wore a dark purple kimono and had her silver hair tied back into a ponytail. "Perhaps we should have some tea in that teashop over there." She nodded in the direction of Haruka's tea rooms.

"I think we should wait until we get up stairs. I doubt we will receive a warm welcome from the proprietor." Tsuruko said quietly.

The elders who had personally trained Tsuruko raised an eyebrow at her behaviour but didn't press the subject. "As you wish Tsuruko-chan." The elder that made the suggestion nodded.

"Thank you Elder Asuna." Tsuruko bowed slightly. "Shall we?"

Nodding, Tsuruko led the way up the stairs, the apprentices carrying their master's belongings for them. Reaching the top of the stairs after a reasonable climbing pace they entered the old building and Tsuruko was instantly glomped by a happy young boy. "Tsu nee-san!" he cheered "You really came back!"

"Of course I did. I promised that I'd be back didn't I?" she held him close to her and kissed his forehead. "How have you been Kei-kun?"

"Great! I've got an Onee-sama now!" he said happily.

"Yes, you told me that over the phone and I would love to meet her." Tsuruko replied with a smile. Setting him down on the floor she allowed him to take her hand and lead her over to a fair skinned girl whose eyes were flitting between the assembled swordsman and women.

"Onee-sama, this is Tsuruko Aoyama. Motoko-Nees big sister. Tsu nee-san, this is my beautiful Onee-sama Kanako." He introduced the two women to each other.

"It is nice to meet you Kanako-san." Tsuruko bowed to the girl.

"Likewise." She returned her bow with a guarded expression.

Smiling at the sister, Tsuruko looked down at Keitaro and said "Kei-kun, allow me to introduce you to the people who wanted to meet you." She took a hold of his hand and led him over to the visiting elders but not before Kanako took a hold of his other hand. "Kei-kun this is..." Tsuruko went around the assembled group and introduced all of them to Keitaro who bowed to them.

Asuna stepped forward and knelt in front of the young boy with a smile. "It is nice to meet you Kei-kun. I don't suppose you can answer some questions for us?"

Keitaro didn't answer but instead looked up at Kanako. "It's OK Kei-kun." She murmured and squeezed his hand. Nodding his head Keitaro let go of Kanako's hand and was taken aside leaving Kanako and Tsuruko by themselves. Before Tsuruko could say anything Kanako asked "What are you planning to do with Kei-kun?"

Tsuruko blinked. "We want to help him."

"And what does 'help him' mean? "Bring him back to life? Or do you mean to exorcise him? Make him pass on to where ever he was meant to go when he died?" she asked attracting the attention of the other girls.

"That has yet to be decided. First we have find out _what_ we can do for him. Until then it is pointless to speculate about what we are going to do with him."

"Why do we have to do anything with Kei-kun?" Su asked from her position draped over Motoko's shoulders.

There was an uncomfortable silence as the girls remembered that they still haven't told Su about Keitaro. "er... well..." Kitsune started "You see... Kei-kun is... well Kei-kun is kind of a..."

"A ghost." Su finished for her "So what? What's wrong with him staying the way he is? That way he'll always be cute and squishy!" she grinned.

"What! You knew?" the girls cried.

"Of course Su did." She replied simply.

"How?" Kitsune asked.

"Because Su is a genius." She smiled smugly.

"So how long have you known?" Motoko asked.

"Since I first hugged him. Why, didn't you guys know?" she asked him

"er, well..." Kitsune started but was interrupted by the approach of one of the elders.

"Elder Kohta." Motoko bowed.

"Hello Motoko-chan." He smiled at her "It's good to see that you have friends already."

"Have you discovered something about him yet?" Tsuruko asked.

"Not yet, but my colleagues are still talking to Keitaro-kun. I would like to ask you ladies a few questions if that is alright?" he smiled at the residents. Nodding their heads they all sat down and waited for the old man to ask his questions. "Well, what have you noticed about Keitaro-kun that can be considered... odd? Or strange?"

"There were a few things. Firstly he seems to be able to disappear as soon as he turns a corner." Naru said.

"But there are tunnels all over Hinata Sou. He probably just ducks into one of them if he wants to escape." Kitsune said.

"Well, he's able to change his clothes instantaneously. As soon as you turn your back he can be wearing something completely different." Kanako explained. "This morning after we had a bath he was drying my back and when I turned around he was wearing a child size robe that appeared out of nowhere."

"Yea, that happened to me as well." Naru put in. "We were getting changed for bed and I was about to ask him if her had anything to wear when I saw he had already change into his pyjamas and his day clothes had vanished."

"Also his sense of time seems to be slightly distorted. He didn't know that it had been over a decade since we last saw each other and he didn't notice that I had aged and that he hadn't." Tsuruko said.

"um, also his aunt Haruka Urashima who owns the teashop downstairs can't see him." Shinobu added shyly.

"But the strangest thing of all is that he thinks apples are better than bananas." Su shook her head sadly.

Kohta chuckled at the young girl "I see. Thank you, I am sure this information will be very useful to us." He bowed to them. Before anything else was said Keitaro rushed up to his sister and climbed onto her lap.

"Look Onee-sama! The nice Nee-san over there gave me a lollipop!" he grinned happily.

"Aren't you lucky?" she petted his head. "Have they finished talking to you?"

"For now, but they said that they wanted to ask me some more questions later." he smiled as he rested his head on her chest.

"Did you answer all their questions?" she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Of course I did Onee-sama." He smiled as he licked his sweet.

"Good boy." She smiled and kissed his forehead.

"Kei-kun has been very helpful to us." Asuna smiled as she walked over to the seated people. "We have enough information to start with."

"Start what?" Keitaro asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about Kei-kun." Kanako rubbed his head who smiled happily at the attention.

"You two certainly have a good relationship don't you?" Kohta grinned at them. "I wonder if you get along with our Motoko-san just as well."

"Of course I do." He smiled happily.

"Fu Fu Fu, It's good to know that Motoko-san is being looked after." He grinned at the young boy.

"Indeed it is." A new voice said from the doorway. Looking towards the entrance the Aoyama's and the school elders grabbed a hold of their swords.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Tsuruko spat as she stood up.

The man gave her an oily smile. He had dull black hair and wore the same style of hakama and gi that Motoko and Tsuruko was wearing with a sword at his hip. "Why, the same reason why the _temporary_ head of our school and most of our... esteemed elders left the safety of the school. To see how little Motoko-chan was settling into her new home of course. Unless there is a different reason why some of the most knowledgeable members of our school have come to this tiny little town?" he told Tsuruko.

"Of course not." She said through gritted teeth.

"_Get Keitaro-kun out of here._" Motoko hissed at Kanako as she stood next to her sister.

"Hello Motoko-chan." He smiled at her.

"Shouji." Motoko growled.

"Now, now Motoko-chan. That's no way to greet your uncle nor the head of the council. And when you become the head of our school we will be working very closely together so it would be best if we got on together no?" he grinned at her.

"I Will Never-!" she cut herself off as Tsuruko grabbed tightly onto her wrist.

"You have no reason to be here Shouji. Just go back to Kyoto. It is irresponsible for so many of the high ranking members of our school to be away."

"It would be more irresponsible to not verify for myself the living conditions for someone as... important as Motoko-chan." He smiled. "Besides, I see no reason why _I_ should be the one to leave."

"Because you were not invited like the rest of us were." She glared at him.

"But since I'm already here it would be pointless to just go back to Kyoto. I might as well stay for a while and see how well Motoko-chan has developed." He smiled making both Aoyamas emit an angry red aura.

"It is not up you whether or not you are allowed to stay here. It is up to the dorm manager." Kohta growled at him.

"Then it's not up to you to expel me is it?" he shot back which made the elder glower. "I'm sure she would have no problem with me being here."

"I'll go get her." Motoko growled as she moved towards the stairs, eager to get away from the man.

**

* * *

**

"Onee-sama, why did we have to come up here?" he asked as he sat on Kanako's lap playing with her cat.

"I'm not sure Kei-kun." she rubbed his head affectionately. "We'll have to wait for Motoko-chan to come up and tell us. But in the meantime you get to spend time with your pretty Onee-sama and that's not so bad is it?" she asked.

Letting go of Kuro he turned around and hugged her, pressing his lips against hers. "Of course it isn't." He rested his head on her chest.

Stroking his hair Kanako held him close to her and whispered. "I won't let anyone hurt you." Keitaro nuzzled happily into her chest. Before they could do or say anything else a clearly angry Motoko burst into the room and slammed the door closed behind her. "What's wrong Motoko-chan?" Kanako asked.

Ignoring her Motoko knelt next to them and said to Keitaro "Kei-kun, I need you to keep away from that _Man_, OK? Don't even speak to him. And if you ever find yourself alone with him you _must_ get away from him as soon as possible and come to one of your nee-sans, your Onee-sama or someone from my school OK?"

Keitaro nodded and held tightly onto Kanako. "Motoko-chan what is going on?" Kanako frowned at her not liking that she was scaring her brother.

"I will tell you later but I need your help. We have to get rid of him as soon as possible." She told Kanako. "He wants to ask you if he can stay but you have to say no."

Kanako nodded her head. "Alright, but I expect an explanation once we're done." Swinging Keitaro onto her back she followed Motoko back to the living room. As soon as the man smiled at her Kanako took an immediate dislike to him. "You wished to talk to me?" she said.

"Yes I would like to stay here along with the others from my school to observe Motoko-chans training for a while."

"This is an all girls dorm. I see no reason let you stay." Kanako said as she folded her arms.

"And what about them?" he nodded to the assembled swordsmen.

"Motoko-chan informed me of their wanting to visit and I allowed it. I don't appreciate a man just turning up on my doorstep and expecting to be welcomed with open arms." She said coldly.

"But I'm Motoko-chan's uncle. Surely you can make an exception this once?" he smiled sweetly.

"I do not care what your relationship with Motoko-chan is. Even if you were her father you would still have to ask me in advance if you wanted to stay."

His smile widened. "Then you have no problem with me visiting Motoko-chan today. You just have a problem with me staying here right?"

Kanako blinked. "Well..." she said reluctantly, not liking she had been backed into a corner. Flicking her eyes towards Tsuruko she saw the elder kendo grudgingly nod her head. "Fine, but you must leave before it gets dark, stay away from the hot springs and the residents' rooms." She told him.

"Of course." He smiled at her.

Kanako mmmed and looked towards the other girls. "Why don't we all have a dip in the hotsprings?" which was met with a chorus of nods.

"My, my, going to the hotsprings in the middle of the day. You certainly live a carefree life away from home, don't you Motoko-chan?" Shouji asked with a smile.

"I have already done my training for the day." She said archly.

"I'm sure you have. And I'm sure you've improved greatly in the short time you have been here." He said.

"I'd be more than happy to give you a demonstration." She growled as she stepped forward, hand on hilt only to be grabbed by her sister.

"Come on Motoko-chan. Let's go have a nice relaxing bath." She pulled the girl away.

"I don't suppose we could steal Kei-kun away from you, Kanako-san. This place is rather large and we could use a guide." Asuna asked.

Kanako thought for a moment before nodding and passing Keitaro to the older woman. Kissing his forehead she whispered into his ear "Remember what Motoko-san told you OK?" getting a nod Kanako smiled and gently stroked his hair.

"I'll look after him." Asuna promised. Kanako nodded her head in thanks before leaving heading to the springs.

**

* * *

**

"So? Either of you want to tell us who that guy is and why is it all of you grab your swords whenever you look at him?" Kitsune asked the kendo girls.

Tsuruko sighed "He is Shouji Aoyama-"

"Shouji Sawamura." Motoko interrupted angrily.

Nodding her head Tsuruko continued "Shouji Aoyama _formerly _Sawamura," She said to avoid another outburst from her sister. "Is the leader of the council that is meant to advise the heads of our school."

"And you hate him because..." Naru asked.

"Because he tried to marry Motoko-chan." She said quietly.

"What?" all the girls cried. "But he's your uncle!" Kitsune protested.

"Only just!" Motoko spat "He is the brother of our aunts' husband."

"So why did he try and marry Motoko-chan?" Naru asked.

Tsuruko sighed. "The traditions of the Aoyama dictate that at least two children must be born every generation. The eldest would take over the school from their predecessor and the youngest would wed and produce the next generation of Aoyama who would in turn take over from their aunt or uncle. This arrangement was put in place to stop resentment from branch family members." Tsuruko explained.

"Branch family?" Shinobu thought before blushing as she realised she said it out loud.

"A branch family member is someone or is the child of someone who wasn't the first born child. In our case my sister would have been part of the main family while I would be a branch family member." Motoko explained. "It used to be that only the eldest child of a the current head of the school would become the next head and so would their direct descendants with any siblings never having the chance to become the ruler of our school nor could any of their children hope to attain that position. This led to much resentment and jealousy from the younger brothers and sisters and more than a few murders. This arrangement was put in place so even if a sibling did not become the head at least their child would which eased the resentment."

"I see." Shinobu nodded her understanding.

"Myself and Motoko are somewhat unique in that our mother was the head of our school. Our aunt died before she could bear any children and so it fell to our mother to run the school and get married. But before she died our aunt did get married. And her husband had begged our mother to allow his brother to join our school. Apparently he had been a delinquent and had amounted to nothing, running up gambling debts that his brother had to keep paying off. It got to the point where he was scared for his brother's life and asked for him to be brought into the school to hopefully calm him down and turn him back onto the right path. I never met our uncle but mother said that he was a good and caring man and so she accepted his request but he didn't settle down he just caused more trouble and his greed was all that motivated him. It got even worse after his brother's death." Tsuruko continued the story. "He eventually got it into his head to try to take over the school. He even managed to become the head of the council but that still wasn't enough; he wants the entire school."

"But since only those of Aoyama blood can rule even if he somehow managed to kill the both of us he would not be able to take control as we still have cousins here and there that share our blood line and while he might be able to get away with killing the both of us he wouldn't if he arranged the death of the other heirs as well." Motoko scowled.

"So he wanted to marry Motoko-chan so his kids would take power and he can control them." Kitsune deduced.

"That's what we suspect. And after they were born he would likely try and get rid of us so we couldn't interfere." Motoko said.

"In order to circumvent his plan the only thing we could do was for me to get married." Tsuruko added. "Luckily I already had a boyfriend that I was in love with and when I explained what the situation was, he agreed to marry me. And so I passed on the title of head of the school to Motoko-chan."

"And you're just allowed to get married and abdicate your responsibilities?" Naru asked.

"There is precedent so we were able to go through with it despite his protests and in order to protect Motoko-chan we said that she wasn't ready to lead the school so we sent her here to train." Tsuruko said.

"So what's he doing here?" Naru asked.

"He is most likely suspicious as to why so many of us needed to come and see Motoko-chan. We had hoped that we could fool him for at least a couple of days but it seems we are not that fortunate." Tsuruko sighed. "We just have to keep him away from Kei-kun until he leaves."

"That is easier said than done Tsuruko-chan." Asuna's voice came from the entrance to the changing room. "Do you mind if we join you?" she asked as she gestured to her young apprentice wrapped in a towel.

"Where's Kei-kun?" Kanako asked.

"He is still with the other elders answering questions." Asuna answered as her and her apprentice sat down into the pool. "We have so far managed to keep Shouji distracted; the other elders are taking turns keeping him occupied while they talk with Keitaro-kun."

"So have you discovered anything about Kei-kun?" Tsuruko asked.

"Not much more than what you originally discerned Tsuruko-chan." Asuna said. "He does seem to have no physical body but I think he's more than just his Ki that remains. Though I cannot be certain just yet I believe that in an effort to save who and what he his Keitaro-kuns Ki pulled out at least part of his soul from his body and has enveloped it in order to keep him safe once his body was beyond saving."

"So, do you think you can help him?" Motoko asked.

"Help him to do what exactly?" Asuna raised an eyebrow. "We still have no idea _what _he is. We could try and perform an exorcism to help him pass on to where he is meant to go but if he isn't a ghost then that won't do anything. We don't even know how he could react to something like that. If we tried to remove his soul his Ki could see it as us trying to kill him and react violently." She sighed. "After all, it was most likely his instinct for self-preservation that made him what he is today."

"Do you think he could try and harm us?" Tsuruko asked.

"Consciously, I doubt it. His disposition is too kind and loving to willing hurt anyone but I doubt he would be able to stop himself if his Ki ever went out of control. It may be best if we just did nothing at all."

"I don't think it would." Came Shinobu's quiet voice. When everyone turned to look at her the girl blushed a deep red.

"What do you mean Shinobu-chan?" Kitsune asked.

"I-it's just that if we didn't do anything Kei-kun would stay like that forever right? Well we couldn't stay with him forever; we will someday move out and eventually die and Kei-kun will be alone again. When I talked to him he said that he didn't like to be alone, and now he seems a lot happier with all of us to spend time with him but sooner or later he would be lonely again and it just seems a bit... cruel to make him go through that again." She finished quietly. All the girls smiled at the blushing girl and Kanako gently stroked her hair.

"Though you have a point, it would irresponsible to do something for the sake of doing it without knowing more." Asuna replied. "If what Tsuruko-chan said about Kei-kun's Ki potential being greater than either hers' or Motoko-chans when he was alive is accurate he could be very dangerous if we do not handle him with caution."

"But the most important thing right now is to make sure Shouji does not find out anything about Kei-kun." Tsuruko said. "Though we cannot be certain what he would do with the information that has been gathered so far, I feel that it would be best if we are not given the opportunity to find out."

As the girls nodded and stood to leave the hotsprings none of them were aware of the man standing by the balcony of the private bathroom listening in to their conversation with a large smile on his face.

**

* * *

**

In one of the rooms that Kanako had set up for the visiting swordsmen and women, Kohta's apprentice hurriedly wrote notes on what they had discovered so far about the young boy. _'I can't believe something like this is even possible!'_ he thought with a feverish look in his eye. "This is amazing!" he said.

"It certainly is a unique situation isn't?" a voice came from the door.

Jumping slightly the apprentice turned and saw the head of the council smiling at him. "Shouji-sama! M-my apologies, I didn't know you were there."

Shoujis smile widened. "That's quite alright... Akira-kun is it?"

"Y-yes Shouji-sama, what can I do for you?" he asked.

"Well, we've been keeping an eye on you." Shiouji replied.

"We?" Akira wondered.

"Myself and the other council members of course." He smiled.

"R-Really? Why?"

"Well, we've heard what a promising member of our school you are and are considering allowing you to become a member of the council."

Akira's mouth dropped open. "M-Me! B-But I'm still just an apprentice! Elder Kohta still has lots to teach me, S-Someone like me doesn't have enough experience to be a council member!" he cried out.

"Come now Akira-kun. There is no need for such modesty. If we didn't think you were the right person for the job I wouldn't be here talking to you about it would I?" he patted the younger mans shoulder.

"O-Of course Shouji-sama. I am honoured." Akira hastily bowed.

"It hasn't been decided yet, but that is why I am here. We have decided to use this situation as an opportunity to test how you competent you are. Normally we would not tell the candidate in question that we are testing him but I can't abide by all that cloak and dagger stuff though it would be best if you did not tell anyone until everything is finalised." Shouji ordered him.

"I understand Shouji-sama." He nodded eagerly. "So what is it that I need to do?"

"First of all, please tell me everything you know about that young boy that we have come to see." Shouji told him.

"Well, before his death ten years ago he was more or less a normal eight year old boy but if what Tsuruko-sama said is true, the amount of Ki he had surpassed anything we've ever seen! More than even the strongest member of the Aoyama blood line!"Akira exclaimed.

"So he is stronger than Motoko-chan and Tsuruko-chan then?" Shouji asked making Akira frown.

"Well... we're not sure at the moment. If he was alive and received proper training then yes, he probably would have been stronger than Motoko-sama and Tsuruko-sama but right now we are unsure of his level in his current state. So far we believe that his soul was enveloped by his Ki at the moment of his death and pulled out of his dying body so that he was able to live on in some capacity." Akira explained.

"Do you think he would be able to manipulate his Ki? Such as using one of our school's techniques?"

"We don't know yet. If his Ki is fully focused of preserving his soul then it is unlikely that he would be capable of doing anything like that but until we know more about him there is little we can accurately predict." He admitted.

"Hypothetically, if he could control his Ki like we do how powerful do you think a technique from him would be?" Shouji asked.

Akira was silent before hesitantly saying "Well... since he would not have the physical limitations of a body, he would be able to release pure energy so even the weakest technique would be incredibly powerful." Akira thought for a moment. "In theory, he wouldn't even need a technique. If he is able to freely manipulate his Ki by will and if he had enough practice then he wouldn't be limited to what a specific technique does, he would just have to think about it and it would be done. And since it appears his Ki has not diminished since his death it's possible that he could be able to do practically anything for as long as he wished without the risk of fatigue. Of course all this is mere speculation; we haven't even had half a day to study him so we have no idea what he is truly capable of."

"I see..." Shouji murmured as his eyes gleamed. _'If what this idiot says turns out to be correct then that boy could be a useful weapon I could use against Tsuruko-chan and her sister! Hell, taking over the school is the least I could do with his kind of power! I just need to find a way of controlling him.'_ His grin grew wider. "Is there anything else you know about him?"

"No... I think that's all." Akira replied.

"Good." Shouji grinned. "Thank you Akira-kun, you have been most informative." He nodded his head before moving to the door.

"S-Shouji-sama!" Akira called out. "H-How did I do?"

"Huh? Oh the test. Yes you did very well although I will have to wait until the end of this excursion until I can give you my recommendation. And remember not to tell anyone about this." He told him.

"O-Of course, Shouji-sama!" he said happily. "Thank you very much!"

Leaving the beaming idiot to his own devices Shouji wondered how he could possibly make the boy do his bidding. _'The first thing I have to do is separate him from everyone else. That manager obviously doesn't like me and those sisters have turned the residents against me, not to mention the elders are already trying to keep me away from him. Even most of their apprentices probably won't give me a chance, I'm just lucky that old fool __Kohta had such a stupid underling.'_ He scowled, deep in thought as he walked down stairs to the living room. Noticing that the room wasn't empty he blinked and grinned as he saw the young boy he was just thinking about sitting on the sofa alone save for the black cat on his lap that he was playing with.

Approaching him with a smile he said "Hello. It's Keitaro-kun isn't it?" The young boy turned around with a smile which fell from his face as he saw who was talking to him. As the cat on Keitaro's lap hissed and arched it's back the young boy's pupils narrowed and his whole body tensed up as if he was ready to make a run for it. "I was hoping to have a word with you." He grinned as he gripped tightly onto the boys shoulder.

**

* * *

**

Upstairs in one of the larger rooms set aside for the elders Kanako and the other Hinata girls sat as they listened to what the elders had found out so far. "That's all well and good but you haven't said if you will be able to do anything about him." Kitsune pointed out.

"That's because we don't know enough yet." Asuna admitted "We haven't even been able to discern exactly what he is and until we do we can't even begin to think ways of helping him."

"So we are no better off than we were before you got here?" Kitsune asked. All the girls had gotten attached to the young boy and like Kanako, Kitsune wasn't shy about showing her dislike about the idea of taking him away.

"That's right, but we've only just started our investigation. You can't expect us to just come up with all the answers in a few hours." Kohta answered the fox girls criticisms.

"Still, is there any rush? He's been like that for over a decade would it really hurt to keep him the way he is for a while longer?" Kitsune asked.

"That all depends on what we find. If we find that we can... do something for him at any time then there is no reason why we should do it just for the sake of doing so but if for some reason there is a time limit then we would have to re-think are approach and do what we feel is best for him and others." Asuna told her.

"What do you mean 'best for others.'?" Naru asked carefully.

"We... we do not know what he is capable of. As far as we can tell he is a being of pure energy. If he is capable of manipulating that energy he could be incredibly dangerous. And if he can't control it then it would probably be even worse. It's possible he could randomly release the energy and wouldn't be able to stop himself from hurting people or destroying his surroundings. If that does happen we would have to try and stop him." Kohta said quietly.

"And _how_ would you try and stop him?" Kanako asked with a dangerous edge to her voice.

"By any means necessary." Asuna murmured and held up her hand to forestall the rush of objections from the girls. "There really is no other option. If he went on a rampage he could kill a countless number of people. Do you think that is a preferable situation? Do you think someone like Kei-kun could live with the knowledge that he did something like that?" All the girls mumbled in response.

"Do you think he can be taught to control himself?" Motoko asked. "If we were to take him back to our school and teach him to control his Ki wouldn't that be enough to ensure he doesn't hurt anyone? Sister, is Kei-kun any different than he was when he was alive?" she asked Tsuruko.

"His mentality still seems to be the same as when I last met him." Tsuruko replied.

"Well that probably means he will stay as he is for a while and I don't think Kei-kun would willingly hurt someone. So as long as he can control himself there wouldn't be a problem, right?" Motoko asked.

"Perhaps, but that was ten years of practically being ignored with little to no interaction with others. His mind stayed the same because there was no one around to influence him. We cannot guarantee that he won't change. And if we took him to our school it would be difficult to keep him away from... _Certain People_ who would see him as a weapon they could use for their own devices."

"Speaking of _Certain People_, where is our other guest?" Tsuruko asked.

The elders looked amongst themselves. "We... are unsure. We haven't seen him for some time now." Kohta admitted.

"Speaking of which, has anyone seen Kei-kun?" Naru asked.

The Hinata girls looked amongst themselves. Just as everyone in the room stood up en masse they heard the young boy's voice scream out "ONEE-SAMA! NEE-SANS!"

**

* * *

**

"Shut up you little brat!" Shouji yelled as he covered the kicking and squirming boys mouth while holding tightly onto the back of his neck. Before he could even begin to move to the door he heard the rapidly approaching thumping of footsteps. "Damn It!" he snarled as he removed his hand from Keitaro's mouth and drew his sword and held the blade against his throat just as the first girl descended the stairs.

"What do you think you are doing Shouji!" Tsuruko screamed at him as she and the other members of her school drew their swords.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm taking this brat and we're going to have a nice long discussion." He grinned at her.

"What do you want with him?" Kanako roared as her body glowed with rage fuelled Ki.

"I'm sure you can guess. This kid has the power to beat even those two sisters and you think I'd pass up the opportunity to have a weapon like him?"

"He is not a weapon that you can just use!" Kohta yelled at him.

"Maybe not _just _yet, but by the time I'm through with him he'll do whatever I tell him to." He smirked at him.

"And you think we'd just let you?" Motoko growled as she took a step forward.

"I'd stay right where you are if I were you Motoko-chan." Shouji threatened as he pressed his sword closer to Keitaro's skin.

"Do you really think something like would work against _him_?" Asuna spat.

"I have no idea." He smirked. "But then again neither do any of you. And I'm willing to bet that none of you are willing to find out." All present bristled at the fact that he was right. "Now, if you don't mind, me and Keitaro-kun here will be leaving." He slowly moved towards the door.

"AS IF I'D LET YOU!" Kanako screamed as she leapt at him.

"Stupid Bitch!" Shouji spat as he swung his sword, the blade cutting into her stomach and throwing her to the floor.

"Kanako!" Motoko and Tsuruko screamed and rushed to her side to try and staunch the bleeding.

"Let that be a lesson!" Shouji yelled as he held out his sword, ready to swing again if any came close to him.

"Onee-sama..." Keitaro's quiet voice quivered as he stared wide eye at his wounded sister. "Onee-sama!" he cried as he tried squirm out of the swordsman's hold with tears falling from his eyes.

"Stop struggling you stupid brat!" Shouji growled as he squeezed Keitaro's neck tighter.

"ONEE-SAMA!" Keitaro screamed as a shockwave of pure energy exploded out from Keitaro's body, throwing his captor and everyone else back against a wall and blowing out all the windows in the room. Freed from his would-be kidnapper Keitaro rushed over to his fallen sister. Kneeling next to her Keitaro pressed his hands against Kanako's side and shook her. "O-Onee-sama..." he wept.

"Kei-kun..." Kanako murmured weakly with a trickle of blood running out the corner of her mouth as she reached up a shaking hand and gently stroked his cheek.

Grabbing a hold of her hand and squeezing tightly he tearfully said. "I-It's alright Onee-sama. I-I'll protect you." He promised.

Kanako gave him a weak smile which turned into a look of horror as a shadow appeared over her brother. "K-Kei-kun...!" she grunted a warning.

Turning around Keitaro's eyes went wide. Shouji stood over him with a crazed look in his eye, his sword raised up and ready to impale Keitaro in his one remaining hand, the other cut off cleanly and cauterised by the force of Keitaro's Ki. "M-Monster! I'll...I'll KILL YOU!" he screamed as his hand moved down to run him through.

Throwing himself on top of Kanako, Keitaro shouted with his eyes squeezed closed "Leave My Onee-Sama ALONE!" as the blade finished it's decent Keitaro's Ki expanded and wrapped around the sword, fracturing and disintegrating the metal before it touched Keitaro's body. With the sword destroyed the bolt of Ki continued upwards to cut off his hand and punch through the ceiling.

Stumbling backwards, Shouji looked down at the stumps at the ends of his arms. "M-my... my hands." He murmured. But Keitaro never heard him. He was still laying on top of Kanako shielding her body with his own. "Don't Hurt My Onee-Sama!" he yelled as a tendril of Ki shot out and struck Shouji in the chest, tearing through the man's flesh, shattering his ribs and ripping apart his heart before throwing him backwards against the wall where his lifeless body slumped down.

Staring at the still crying boy hunched over his sisters motionless form Tsuruko's whole body shook as she pushed herself up the wall she had been thrown against. The young boys Ki was reacting to his mental state, fluctuating wildly and growing stronger with each passing second to the point where even an untrained eye could see the glowing energy that enveloped his body. Every so often a tendril of Ki would lash out and destroy whatever it touched. It took the coffee table and the TV being torn to shreds to spur her into action. Rushing forward she reached out to him "Kei-kun you have to calm dow- Ah!" she cried out as she touched him before leaping backwards. Looking down at her hands she saw her hands were burned red and already blistering. Gritting her teeth she grunted through the pain "He's gone out of control!"

"What can we do?" Motoko asked her sister was she held the hilt of her sword tightly.

"I...I have no idea." Tsuruko murmured as another bolt of Ki slashed apart the sofa.

Panicking, one of the apprentices raised his sword "**Ougi Zanmaken**!Secret Technique Evil-Cutting Sword!" he cried.

"Don't you fool!" Tsuruko cried but it was too late. The sword had finished its downward arc and released the stored energy at Keitaro. Before it got to within a metre of the boy, Keitaro's Ki whipped out and cut through the blast, dissipating the energy as soon as it touched it. "A-Amazing!" Tsuruko murmured. "To think he is capable of something like this!" she thought aloud before her eyes widened as she realised what was about to happen. "Look Out!" she cried to the apprentice that had attacked him but that was all she could do as Keitaro's Ki condensed into a spear and shot out towards his heart.

Just before the lance pierced his heart Kohta knocked him out the way and intercepted the Ki with the flat of his sword. Grunting as the force of the impact pushed him backwards, his eyes widened as a large crack appeared on the blade. Cursing, Kohta pushed his Ki into the sword and swung the blade, reflecting the attack. Before he could recover the Ki shot forward again, this time directed at Kohta. Gritting his teeth he brought his nearly ruined sword up to block the assault only for the Ki to bend before it hit the weapon and shot back onto its original trajectory. _'Shit!'_ he cursed internally as his eyes went wide.

Just before it struck his heart, the Ki veered off to cut through the Ki wave Asuna had just launched at Keitaro before stabbing at her directly. Narrowly dodging the barb she called out "His Ki prioritises who ever attacked him last! If we alternate between attacks we can keep him preoccupied until we figure out what to do!"

As the others nodded and did as instructed Tsuruko gritted her teeth and tore off her sleeves with her mouth and wrapped them around her burnt hands. "Motoko-chan! Get the other girls out of here!" she ordered her sister.

"But-!" she started.

"There's no time! They'll just get caught in the crossfire! Just get them out of here!" she yelled at her. Grudgingly nodding her head Motoko collected the non-combatants and managed to lead them out the back door via the kitchen. Once they were out of harm's way Tsuruko turned her attention back to the situation at hand. The Shinmei-ryu practitioners had encircled the still weeping boy; after one sent a wave of Ki at him another on the other side would launch an attack of their own, preventing the tendril of Ki that extended from his body from doing anything more than dissipating the approaching Ki. _'We've stalled him for now but I don't know how long we can keep this up. The apprentices do not have enough experience or stamina to be continually using Ki in a drawn out battle. We have to figure out how to calm him down and stop him from- oh my god...'_ her thought process had trailed off as the Ki tendril stood straight up, only the sharp tip bent slightly as it turned as if peering at the assembled swordsmen and women like a snake before splitting itself into the same number of tendrils as there were opponents. "Keitaro No!" Tsuruko screamed but to no avail.

The writhing tendrils shot forward.

Tsuruko sat there in shock with her eyes wide open, blood spattered across her pale face as she trembled. The elders had only just managed to survive the attack, their swords destroyed and bodies bleeding from wounds that prevented them from fighting anymore but not immediately life threatening. The same couldn't be said about their apprentices. Unable to control their Ki well enough to defend themselves, Keitaro's Ki shattered their swords and punctured their chests, piercing their hearts before slamming them into the walls parallel to them. "K-Kei-kun..." she murmured as the tendrils withdrew from the lifeless bodies and merged with the ones that were observing the barely standing elders.

The door suddenly burst open revealing a Haruka that had been attracted by the shattering glass and screams from the apprentices. "What's going on here- ahhhh!" she cried out as her nephews tendrils, attracted by the sudden addition of a large amount of Ki, pre-emptively slammed into her side and threw her against the wall.

"Haruka!" Tsuruko yelled as she rushed to her friends side.

Holding onto her cracked ribs Haruka said threw laboured breath "What...What was that?" she gasped as she looked at the centre of the room. She could see and feel the swirling mass of Ki surrounding her motionless and bloodied niece, expanding and contracting as if unsure what state it was meant to be in. "K-Kanako...?" she wondered before her eyes widened. Her vision still hazy from hitting her head against the wall, every time her eyes unfocused the image of a weeping boy laying on top of Kanako appeared only to flicker out of existence when they refocused. "W-who... k-Kei-kun? I-is that K-Kei-kun?" she asked with a weak and quivering voice. As he heard his name the crying boy and lifted his head up to look at the source of the sound, his body covered in his sister's blood, his image stabilised in Haruka's vision. "K-Kei-kun... is that you?" she asked as tears started to fall down her cheeks.

"A-Aunty..." he wept.

"I-It's really you!" she smiled deliriously as she stood up, ignoring the pain in her side and head and approached her nephew.

"Haruka stop! You'll be killed!" Tsuruko dived as Haruka only to be thrown back as Haruka's fist collided with the side of her face, not allowing anything or anyone to stop her reunion.

Stumbling forward happy tears continued to fall as she advanced towards him. With Haruka coming closer to him Keitaro's Ki ignored the incapacitated elders and focused on her. Unsure if she needed to be defended against, the blades of Ki emanating from the young boys body thrust forward trying to ward off any potential treat the woman might pose. Ignoring the energy that slashed into her body Haruka continued forward, not even flinching when one of the tendrils bit into her cheek, deeply cutting her making blood flow freely nor did she flinch when they lacerated her arms and legs or stabbed into her stomach.

Kneeling next to him, Haruka wrapped her arms around the boy and hugged him close to her body. "A-Aunty... O-Onee-samas hurt!" He cried as he buried his head in her chest.

"It's OK Kei-kun." She rubbed his head, the fact that the tendrils were still trying to protect their host by stabbing her exposed back and that where ever she touched him her skin was scalded and burned away from the sheer force of the Ki pouring off of him no longer concerned her now she had her beloved nephew back. "Aunty's here. Aunty won't let anyone ever hurt you." She reassured him.

"A-Aunty! I-I don't want to be alone again!" he wailed as he held tightly onto Haruka's clothes, tears still streaming down his face.

"Don't worry Kei-kun." She told him as blood started to spill from her mouth. "I won't let you be alone again. Aunty will be with you forever." She promised.

"AUNTY!" Keitaro cried.

Then everything went white.

**

* * *

**

Slowly blinking as his eyes adjusted to the gentle sunlight above him that shone through the blooming sakura trees, Keitaro heard a voice say. "Hello Kei-kun. It's nice to finally meet you." Swivelling his eyes he saw a woman wearing a colourful kimono staring down at him and he realised that he was using her lap as a pillow.

"W-who are you?" he asked the beautiful woman before him as he stood up.

"I am Amaterasu Omikami, do you know what I am?" she told him, her smile seeming to give of its own light. Keitaro shook his head. "I am the sun goddess."

"Y-you are?" he asked amazed.

"Yes I am and I have been watching you for a very long time." She informed the young boy with a smile.

"Y-You have? Why?" he wondered in awe.

"Because you are a very special young boy and a... colleague of mine won't stop going on about you." She laughed slightly

"A colleague?" he asked confused. In response she pointed to the side at a man leaning in the shade of a tree. He wore an all black suit, his face pale and his eyes bathed in shadow. The dark man watched them impassively. Hiding behind her back he asked the goddess "W-Who is that?"

"That is Death. He ushers souls from your world into the next." she told him quietly.

"D-Death?" he cried as he hid more behind her back.

Pulling him back around to her front she spoke to him softly. "Kei-kun I need you to listen to what I'm going to tell you OK?" Keitaro nodded. "For the past 10 years you have been ignored right? You talked to people but they acted as if you weren't their Correct?" he nodded again. "The reason for that is that you died ten years ago."

"W-What, h-how-?" he tried to ask his eyes filled with confusion and worry.

"Shhhhh" she quieted him down by hugging him to her chest and stroked his back "You don't need to worry about that. I have something important that I need to talk to you about OK?" she asked which received another nod "As I have said you died 10 years ago but there is something special about you. Something that made you un-claimable by Death and so you stayed in your world instead of passing to the next. Now, due to recent events an opportunity has arisen and you have several options you can take."

"Options?" he asked looking up at her.

"Yes and I need you to think very carefully before you give me you answer."

"OK." He agreed.

"Number 1" she held up a finger to represent the number. "We can let you pass over and go on to the next world."

Keitaro thought for a moment in silence before asking "W-what's it like there?"

"I do not know. I watch over your world Kei-kun and have never been to the other side neither has he, he merely guides people there but does not go there himself." She explained before raising another finger. "Option 2 is that you can stay here with me." she smiled brightly at him.

"W-With you?"

"Yes as I have said I have watched you for a long time and think that you are a very special young boy. If you want you could live with me here forever watching you world beneath us. I would appreciate the company since I do not get many visitors other than him and all he does is moan and grumble." she laughed as she gestured to the man in the shade.

"You're very nice and pretty, why doesn't anyone visit you?" he asked confused.

Amaterasu blushed slightly as she rubbed the top of his head "Such a charming boy you are even though you are so young." The smile dropped slightly from her face "Your third option is that you can go back to your world alive."

His eyes widened and lit up "You mean I can go back and live with Mum and Dad and Granny and Aunty and Onee-sama and Su nee-san and Shinobu nee-san and Motoko nee-san and-"

"Hold on a minute Kei-kun and let me finish." She interrupted his outburst. "Yes you could go back to your family but to do that we would have to make some changes. Those not of your family will never have met you and it will be left up to fate to decide if you are reunited with them. You also will have no memory of what happened in your previous life or of this conversation. The amount of changes we would have to make is unknown, it could be something as small as someone you have never met turning left when they would have turned right or as large as changing when a person was born. And that includes you, but I promise you will be born in this time period to the same parents." Keitaro had gained a large grin and it broke Amaterasu's heart to tell him "But there are some consequences if we do this. While you will be back with your family, you will face great hardships and misfortune in your life. I have no idea what form they will take but they could be anything short of dying. You will live a long life that will be filled with happiness and sorrow in equal amounts." Keitaro frowned at her warning. "Take as much time as you need Kei-kun." She hugged him gently to her chest and stroked his back.

After a while of nuzzling into her chest Keitaro looked up and said "I-I want to go back and be with everyone."

"Are you sure Kei-kun? You won't be able to change your mind. Do you really want to go through all that sadness?" she tried to convince him otherwise.

He nodded and quietly said "I don't like being sad but if it means that I can be with everyone then I don't mind."

Amaterasu gave him a sad smile "I understand. I thought that is what you would choose." Cupping his small chin she placed a tender kiss on his lips "It was nice to meet you Kei-kun. Perhaps we will meet again at some point."

"I'd like that." He smiled as he hugged her tightly. "Thank you." he whispered.

Running her fingers through his hair she nodded at her friend. The man in black sighed and pulled out a pocket watch. Opening the glass cover he carefully placed his finger on the hands and moved them backwards.

Keitaro smiled happily and closed his eyes. His body fading and becoming lighter, before turning transparent and dispersing into a fine mist. Once the young boy had completely disappeared Amaterasu sighed sadly, stood up and wiped down her kimono. Walking other to Death she smiled her thanks at him.

"You know you are only delaying the inevitable." He said in a monotone voice.

Amaterasu just smiled in response "Perhaps."

He raised an eyebrow "I will eventually claim him."

"We shall see. It all depends on which one of us gets to him first." She smiled playfully at him.

Death just rolled his eyes, placed a black fedora hat upon his head and faded into the shadows. Walking to a small lake Amaterasu sat down and stared deeply into the pool. "Well my little Kei-kun, let us see what fate has dealt you this time." The surface of the lake rippled and darkened to reveal a large building at the top of a large flight of stairs. Halfway to the top two figures are walking hand in hand. The child looked up and asked

"Haru nee-san when did you say granny was going to be back?"

**The End**

* * *

Well that's the end of the second Kid-Keitaro fic(or first if you think about it chronologically) out of hopefully four. I want to thank MotormMaster (Who I still haven't been able to contact since I posted chapter 3) for the original idea for this spin-off/prequel. If you want to see what the original idea was it is still in a review for chapter 5 of Kid-Keitaro under the name 'Make more Chaps a.k.a. Motorm'.

Over the course of writing this fic I began to read an 8 book series by Piers Anthony called the Incarnations of Immortality. It was a great read which I thoroughly enjoyed but the strange thing is, by the end of the final book I saw several themes, such as the changing of the timelines, that were the same in this chapter even though we had come up with them months before I had even read the first book. Even my last paragraph was similar to that of the last book. Another coincidence was that the final book was an idea sent to Piers Anthony by one of his readers and much like MotormMaster's idea it grew and mutated into the finished article. Anyway I thought it was a strange little anecdote that you may be interested to hear but if not... well it doesn't really matter one way or the other.

As always reviews are welcome so please tell me what you thought and look out for the next story of Kid-Keitaro as well as my other fics.

Thanks for reading

_Rincewind1990_


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